A Very Noble Christmas Vacation
by RikaHara
Summary: Noble team is exhausted. So Carter decides its time for some vacation, and just in time for Christmas! yeah, its not xmas anymore, but I want to finish this!
1. Prelude: Somewhere inSomewhere

**_A/N: This is supposed to be a humerous story, sadly the prelude is lacking teh lolz. :( Anywho, please comment and tell me what you think! _**

The Elite fell to the floor, blood splattering everywhere. Emile cocked his shotgun. 'And stay down."he growled, turning towards Noble 6. "Hurry up."

"I'm almost done." Six answered, pressing a button on the charges. "We have ten minutes to get out of this covenant outpost before detonation." She stood up.

" About time." He readied his shotgun as Six took up her assault rifle and together they sprinted out of the room into the hallway. And straight into a mob of elites.

"!#$!" Six thought as she pulled the trigger, reigning metal death onto the covenant forces that blocked their path. "How did reinforcements arrive so soon?"

Her comm crackled to life as she fought. " Noble four and Six, do you read me?" A feminine voice said.

" A little busy, here!" Emile yelled as he blasted off another elite's head.

" Hostiles must of got a signal out, reinforcements are pouring in. Im detecting high levels of movement in your location. I suggest you get out of there. Now."

"Yes' Ma'am." Six assassinated the last elite and motioned for Emile to get moving. They ran down numerous passageways, gunning down any covenant forces that stood in their path. Soon they reached the outside of the outpost.

They burst out of the hanger doors, guns blazing. The outpost they had invaded was actually a tower, rising high above the clouds. It sported massive AA guns that the covenant used to gun down any UNSC vessel that tried to enter the area. Noble Team had been sent in to eliminate the threat.

Ahead of them was a long stretch of dock, as the two Spartans appeared, the covenant took cover behind numerous crates and began to fire at them.

Six rolled behind cover. "Reloading!" She yelled, fishing for some ammo from her belt. Plasma wizzed over her head, causing her to duck.

"Damn, theres much more of them then I thought!" She muttered grimly, looking at the twenty elites that blocked their escape.

"There's no way we will be able to make it in time!" Six yelled to Emile. He only grunted, his shotgun smoking as he fired.

Suddenly, the air echoed with the sound of a sniper rifle firing. Three elites went down, their brethren staring in confusion at where the shots came from.

Jun rocketed out from behind a wall, a jet pack strapped to his back, sniper rifle in hand. He raised it and pulled the trigger, causing one more elite to fall.

"Its seems you need some assistance?" He asked in his weird accent.

The numbers lessoned, Emile leapt from behind his cover and charged the elites. A needle became embedded in his arm as he ran, but he didn't seem to notice as he unleashed a world of pain on the grunt that fired it.

Six began to sprint towards the edge of the dock. Her heart beat in her ears, her breaths came in short gasps as she ran, sniper fire raining down on the enemies around her. She glanced at the timer in the corner of her HUD. They only had a minute left.

A pelican rose up from the clouds, hovering towards the edge. A figure appeared at the opening.

" MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Commander Carter yelled, motioning for them to hurry.

Six tried to run faster, her heart beating a frantic rhythm in her chest.

Emile made it to the edge first. He leapt across empty space, landing and rolling into the pelican.

Six was halfway there, the seconds ticking down, when suddenly there was a pain in her leg. She cried out and fell to the ground, looking down at the blood pouring out of her thigh. The plasma bolt had ripped right through her shields.

"Six!" She heard Jun yell. She looked up to see a gold elite standing over her.

'Wort Wort Wort!" The creature chuckled and activated its energy sword.

Six desperately reached for her assault rifle. But it was too late, the elite raised its sword and-

Jun pulled the trigger on his sniper rifle, cursing when he realized that he was out of ammo. His soldier's mind calculated the distance between him in the elite. it wasn't too far.

He activated the jet pack to full power, hurtling down he tackled the elite to the ground, shoving a knife into its throat.

" We better get out of here!" He held out his hand and helped Six get up. Together they ran.

"How much time do we have?" Jun asked.

"30 seconds, and counting!" Six yelled back.

"Move, Spartans!" Carter yelled into the comms.

"They aren't going to make it," Emile mused from beside him, ripping the needle from his arm and throwing it out the pelican before it shattered.

Emile was right, and Carter knew it. He bit his lip as he watched his two team mates approach.

Six also knew. The timer had reached zero, and they were only ten feet away.

KABOOM! The outpost erupted into a humongous fireball. A wall of shrapnel and flame exploded out of the hanger, heading straight towards the two running spartans.

Jun saw it coming out of the corner of his eye. Without hesitation he tackled Noble Six, using his body as a shield. The blast propelled them the last few feet and into the pelican, where Jorge caught them and hauled them inside.

"Lets get out of here!" Carter yelled back to the cockpit, and the pelican flew away before an even bigger explosion destroyed the base completely.

Kat came out of the cockpit to see Emile,Jorge, Six, and Carter kneeling over Jun. Six was clutching her leg.

"That was a close one, Commander." Kat said. "What happened?"

" Its Jun. " Carter slipped off his helmet, trying to hide the worry on his face.

Kat hurried over to where the spartan was lying limp on the floor of the pelican.

"Im sorry, sir. I was slow." Six murmured sorrowfully, but the Commander only shushed her.

Kat put a finger to Jun's neck, trying to find a pulse. Sighing in agitation she ripped off his green helmet, looking at his face.

"Is he dead?" Emile asked, sounding not in the least bit sad.

'Oi, Jun!" Kat slapped his face.

"OW!" He opened his eyes. "Why does my back hurt?"

"YOU"RE ALIVE!' Jorge said happily and pulled him into a massive bear hug.

"Aaaagh! My spine!"

Carter got up and went over to Kat, a smile on his face. "It WAS a close call, but we all made it, safe and sound. "

"Aye, Commander. But Im worried. This is the fifth covenant outpost we have taken out this week, and each time we kept having more near fatal misses like this one. I think everyone is beginning to get a little tired, Commander. "

"What do you mean?" Carter looked behind him to see Jorge bending over.

"Jorge?" He asked, concerned.

"Just a little winded, Sir." He huffed.

"Really? You only lifted two Spartans, you shouldn't be THAT tired out..."

Jorge straightened up. " I must be getting old." He muttered before sitting down.

Carter looked around at his team. Most of them looked plain exhausted. He sighed. Kat was right. As always.

"Listen up, Team!" He commanded, causing them to perk up.

"Whut is it?" Jun asked.

" Get some rest, your going to need it for tomorrow when we scout for more covenant activity."

"Yes, sir!" They replied in unison, trying to hide their exhaustion as they settled down for a nap.

Carter sat down and leaned against the wall, Kat joined him, looking angry. " I said we needed a break, not more missions!" She hissed, but Carter only smiled at her.

"Relax, I want it to be a surprise!" He whispered back.

"What surprise?" She raised an eyebrow.

" When we go on vacation!" His smile widened. The anger left Kat's eyes, replaced by respect.

"I should of know," She said sleepily and leaned against him.

Carter quietly watched as the rest of his team, one by one, fell asleep. He grinned.

Tomorrow, Noble Team was going on vacation!


	2. Chapter 1: Arrival

**_A/N: Hopefully this is be a slightly bit funny. Its still in the serious part, but that should end by next chapter! :) _**

Six was sleeping comfortably when she was suddenly shook awake. She woke up to see a man with a paper bag over his head, yelling at her.

"WHERE THE HELL IS MY HELMET?" He continued to shake her. But stop immediately when her fist collided with his face.

"Emile, is that you?" She asked, uncertain at the person standing in nothing but his under clothes.

" No, it's the ***damn Prophet of Truth." His voice came out muffled under the paper.

"How would I know where you put your helmet." She snapped back. "-And where did you armor go?"

"I was about to ask the same of you."

Six looked that to see that her grey and purple armor was gone. The only thing she was wearing was a slim tank top and shorts. Her eyes widened in surprise as she stood up. She ran a finger through her messy blonde pony tail, looking very bewildered. Around her, everyone else began to wake up, their armor gone.

'The hell?" Jorge seethed. "Who took Sadie-I mean, my gun?"

" Gah, where's my armor? It appears to be missing! I feel sooo violated right now! " Jun hugged himself, looking scared.

'ALL our armor is missing. Now calm down." Kat commanded him, wearing black leggings and a sweater.

"But who took it?" Jorge crossed his arms.

" I know who took it!" Jun raised his hand.

"Oh no, here we go." Emile facepalmed underneath the paper bag covering his face.

"What?" Six whispered.

" _They _took it." Jun said in a conspiratorial whisper.

"Who?" Six asked before Emile could shush her.

"_Them!_ The things that have been watching us!"

Kat, Jorge, and Emile triple facepalmed. They had heard this one before. Sadly Six hadn't.

"Who's watching us?" She looked at him skeptically.

"Them!" Jun motioned all around. "They're watching us, JUDGING us, and now they took our armor!"

Six just looked at him while Emile searched for his knife. "Paranoid little !#$%, they can't watch you if your dead!"

Jorge stepped between Emile and Jun. "Calm down, Spartan. Jun's just having one of his freak outs again." He said calmly.

Emile backed away, grumbling. Six looked around at the inside of the pelican. "This still doesn't explain what happened to our armor...and where are we, anyway?"

The Team went silent. They couldn't hear the hum of the pelican's engine. The whole craft was still.

"We must of landed, but where? What's going on?" Jun chattered.

" Hey, where's Commander Carter?" Jorge announced.

Six looked around. The Commander was no where to be seen. Suddenly the Pelican doors opened, letting in a bright white light. Commander Carter stood before them, a huge retarded grin plastered on his face.

"I was wondering when you guys would wake up."

"Commander? Where the hell is my armor?" Emile hissed, fighting the urge to lunge at him.

"While you kiddos slept, I took the opportunity to relieve you of it. While we're on break there's going to be NO weapons, NO fighting, and NO armor. We're just going to relax!"

"And where exactly are we, sir?" Six asked.

"Why, we're home!" Carter smiled retardedly.

" BWAH?" The team said in unison and stumbled out of the Pelican, looking around at the pure white snow, mountains, and grey military base in front of them.

" You said we were going to kill more covies." Emile grumbled.

" That can wait. This team needs some good ol' R&R before we will be our fighting best again. So, I talked to Command and they allowed us a little vacation. We're home for the holidays!" Carter fistpumped.

Kat gave a slight smile, looking around her with an approving eye. " We haven't been back to HQ in...years, it seems.'

"YAY, we're home!" Jun, Six and Jorge cheered happily, leaping around. Then Six stopped, looking confused. "I've never been...home, before." She said quietly.

"That's right," Jorge clapped her on the shoulder, "you're still a newbie. Don't worry, this is your home now, too!"

"Wait a minute, you never been here before?" Jun exclaimed, his mind thinking. "Then that means you are a foreign substance. High chance of you being contaminated with all types of weird germs. Therefore YOU MUST BE STERILIZED!" He unzipped his army pants and pulled out a can of cleaning spray.

"Bwah? Get away from me!" Six yelped and took off running, Jun following her like a radar guided missile.

"NO, I'm not risking the chance of having you infecting my stuff with foreign nasties!" He yelled back, shaking the can then spraying it at her.

"Frikken germ obsessed !#$%. If only I had my knife!" He glared at his commander through the eye slots in his paper bag.

"I said no weapons." Carter shook his finger. 'You'll get your helmet back, later. Speaking of which, why are you wearing that paper bag?"

" I DON"T HAVE A PROBLEM!" Emil yelled and ran off after Six and Jun.

Kat breathed, trying not to smile. 'You did well, Commander."

" You bet your sweet ass I did!" The Commander struck the Captain Morgan pose. "Noble Team is home for Christmas!"


	3. Chapter 2: Hunt for a tree part 1

Six rubbed her cold arms as she followed her team down the grey hallway. Carter allowed Kat to take the lead. She was now giving Six the full tour of the base.

" Here is the Rec Room. It has some couches, a pool table, and anything else you want to waster your time with." She said in her stern accent.

Six nodded to show that she understood. "I appreciate you showing me around, ma'am, but I was wondering when I could get some more clothes on?"

Kat eyed the other woman's tank top and shorts, raising a sarcastic eye brow. "Fine. Lets take you to your room, Im sure you will find proper attire in there. "

"Ummm, her room?" Carter broke in.

"Yes, sir. Thom's old room. Remember?"

Carter looked suddenly nervous. "Oh, THAT room...um...I didn't think we needed to use that room. "

"Commander?" Kat looked at him questioningly, as did the rest of Noble Team.

Carter quickly recovered, straightening up he resumed his commanding form. Brushing past Noble 2 he lead the way down a couple of hallways, until they stopped in front of a door. It was as grey as the walls, and looked like it hadn't been opened in a long time.

" Here it is!" Carter's cheerfulness sounded forced as he tried the handle. "Oops, its locked! And I don't have the key, oh well. I guess you can sleep in the storage closet!"

"Sir?" Jorge spoke up, looking horrified. " You can't do that!"

" Well, it seems we have no choice. Oh well." He gave a nervous chuckle and turned to leave, but Jun held up his hand.

"Hold on, I got Thom's old room key!" Jun announced, holding up a battered key.

"How did you get that?" Emile asked, pointing at the key.

Jun went quiet and looked down. 'I liked him...is all..." He sulked as Kat grabbed the key out of his hand and began to walk over to the door.

Carter began to sweat, his eye twitched as he hurriedly slid in the way of Noble 2. " Do you really need to do that, Kat?"

" What are you trying to say, Commander? "

"It seems he doesn't want to open the door." Six mused, crossing her arms and watching the scene with an amused interest along with Jorge, Jun, and Emile. What type of team has she joined?

Carter tried to push Kat back as she approached the door, but she just smiled and kicked him in the crotch.

"Insubordination!" He wheezed as he fell to the floor, clutching his privates. The female spartan sniffed haughtily and shoved the key into the door, causing the security system to click and whiirrr.

"I don't know what has gotten into you, this is not how a commanding officer acts. Especially to his men!" She ranted as the door opened with a hiss. " What is in this room that could make you act so-OH GAWD!" Her jaw dropped, eyes widening in horror as the lights turned on and she looked inside.

" Don't look...that's an order!" Carter cried out desperately, but it was too late. Curious, the whole team crowded at the doorway, looking inside with wide eyes.

"Oh..." Six gawked.

"Is this even legal?" Jorge blushed and covered his eyes.

"I don't get it." Jun shrugged.

Emile didn't answer, his paper bag becoming stained as he got a nose bleed.

Covering every square inch of the room was plastered in photos of Kat. Pictures of her in battle, out of battle, close ups, pictures of her butt. Pictures of her in the shower. And other more naughty things.

Kat was silent, but Six could see her shoulders hunching, her fist shaking, as she slowly turned around to face Carter. One look at her face and Six knew she should leave.

'Now seems a good time to leave Commander Stalker to Kat." Emile said.

"Agreed." Six quickly turned around and walked away with Emile, Jun and Jorge.

"Um...It was Jun!" Carter backed away like a crab, looking kinda scared as Kat approached him, her face cold and expressionless.

"Kat, its not what you think..." Carter tried to chuckle but choked on his words as Kat unscrewed her robotic arm and raise it high above her head before bringing it down on Carter.

"NO! NOT THE FACE!"

SMACK!

Later...

Dinner was a rather morbid affair. Noble Team sat at the table, their trays before them laden with steaming standard issue rations. No one had taken a bite yet. Carter sat at the head of the table, covered in bandages and trying to avoid eye contact with Kat, who was looking quite dangerous with her butter knife in hand. Silence reigned as Six played with her food, head down.

Jorge fidgeted in his chair, he couldn't stand the depressing mood any longer. 'So... you said we're out for Christmas, sir?"

Noble 1 looked up briefly, his usual cheery expression replaced by a droopy frown. "Yeah, what about it?"

" Well, sir. Considering it IS going to be Christmas in about a week,,,and considering its still tradition..."

"Out with it, spartan."

" I was thinking we could get a Christmas tree, sir." The big man said hopefully.

" NO. We are on an army budget. We can't afford it. "

"But there's a forest out bac-"

" I said NO." Carter huffed.

"Echo Base got a Christmas tree, " Jun put in, "they sent us a Christmas card of it. All big and with lights on it! Why can't we-"

The Commander stood up so suddenly he sent his tray clattering to the floor. " Attention!" He yelled in a Drill Sgt. voice, causing the rest of Noble Team to stand straight up, heads held high.

"Listen up, men. I have had it up to here with the lot of you. I don't even know why I'm still talking to you childish namby pambies. You are dismissed to your rooms for the rest of the night. Once in said rooms you will not leave them for the rest of the night. That is an order, am I clear?" He yelled.

" Sir yes Sir!" They cried out at the same time and marched out of the room, all except for a certain person.

"What are you still doing here, Six?" Carter said dangerously.

" I might remind you that I do not have a room, considering an unfortunate incident that happened today, sir." Six said slyly.

His eyes narrowed. "Everyone is giving my back talk today.." He grumbled, his eyes flashing. " I like your lip." He said sarcastically. "And because of it, I'll give you the pleasant reward of rooming with Emile.

"BWAH?" Six's mouth dropped open.

"I knew you'd like it. Im sure you and Emile will get along just fine." He said grumpily as he pushed her out the door.

Later Later...

Six climbed onto the top bunk, quietly slipping underneath the covers. The room was pitch black. For some reason Six had made it to the room before Emile had, and she had a glimmer of a hope that if she kept quiet, Emile wouldn't notice the fact that there was a person sleeping above him.

Suddenly she heard footsteps in the hall, the door slid open, letting in a beam of light. The female spartan could hear the person enter the room and close the door behind them. Darkness resumed.

Six kept as still as possible, trying hard not to breathe. Hoping that Emile was drunk or really tired so he did not notice her. She could hear him shuffling around and muttering.

"Commander's gone crazy, hiding my helmet!" he grumbled. ' Good thing he didn't know about the spare one I keep in my top bunk!" He snickered evilly, his footsteps coming closer to Six.

Six's mind was racing, it went something along the lines of: "Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!" as she felt a hand pat around right next to her face. She froze, breaking out into a cold sweat as the hand touched her arm, then tensed.

Immediately the hand gripped her and pulled. She was sent flying out of the bunk, where she rolled onto the ground. Before she could get up she was tackled into the wall, a hand wrapped around her neck.

The light turned on showing a familiar paper-bagged face. "The hell?" He hissed, still not letting go of her.

"Stand down, Emile. Its just me." Six said dangerously. She didn't want to get into a fight with Emile, but if she had too...

"What are you doing in MY room?"

"Orders. You have a problem with that? "

'Yes." He spat and let go of her. He began to stomp around. " Commander has gone as crazy as Jun! And why did he yell at us over a tree? I don't get all this Christmas crap!"

" Christmas is NOT crap!" Six shot back. " The Commander is just mad that he got caught, so he has to take it out on us." She said, trying to calm him down. "Besides, it's a season of warmth and love, or so I heard. Carter and Kat should be back to normal by Christmas. Then we can all gather around the tree-"

" What tree?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

Six sighed. "Well, without a tree, I guess no one is going to be happy." She crossed her arms. " I guess this little "vacation" is going to suck. Oh well." She walked over to her bunk. "I'm guess we're stuck with each other..." she pulled back the covers. "Oh, and I think this is yours. Goodnight! " She tossed down a spare helmet to Emile, just like his old one except without the skull. She then clapped her hands, and the lights went out.

Emile slipped into his own bunk, his mind bubbling with anger and agitation at the Commander and this intruder into his room. There must be a way to solve this, but sadly he didn't have his knife...

He thought about it late into the night, when everyone else was sleep and he could hear Six's soft breathing coming from the bunk above him. Something Six said nagged at his mind...something...important...

LIGHTBULB MOMENT! Emile jumped out of bed, reaching up he grabbed the sleeping woman and pull her down.

"BWAH?" Six woke up, confused, and instinctively punched Emile in the face. It didn't do much damage since he had his helmet on.

"I know how to solve this!" Emile hissed excitedly.

"Whut? How?" Six asked blearily, still half asleep.

"You said that having a Christmas tree will make everyone happier, right?"

"Yeah, something like that..."

" There's a forest out back. How 'bout we get one?"

Six was wide awake now, she blinked in surprise. " Get one? But we're under orders not to leave..."

"Who cares. You said it yourself. If we get a Christmas tree, Carter will pull that stick out of his ass and say sorry to Kat, then clean up Thom's room and then I can have my room back!"

"I didn't say anything like that!" Six argued, but Emile didn't listen. He had already tossed Six a coat, snow pants, and some army boots and was heading out the door. They were going to get a Christmas tree!


	4. Chapter 3: Hunt for a tree part 2

Six hastily slipped on her winter gear and followed Emile out into the pitch black hallway, but not before grabbing a flashlight and switching it on. She let the beam sweep ahead of her as she caught up to the fellow spartan.

"You seriously want to disobey orders? You know we're not supposed to be doing this!"

" If you have a problem with it, then go back to the room." Emile said without turning around.

"I will!" Six huffed and turned to go, but Emile violent grabbed her arm and began to pull her along.

"You're coming with me, and you'll like it!"

"But you just said I could-"

"Shutup!"

They continued down the hall, trying to be as quiet as possible. A few minutes later Noble Six spoke up again.

" You don't even have an ax, how do you suppose we'll cut down a tree?"

Emile spun around and faced her, his helmet gleaming eerily in the beam of the flashlight. "I have my ways," was all he said before he continued walking again. Six could do nothing but shrug as she followed Emile.

They were almost to the door leading out when Six thought she heard a noise. She motioned for Emile to be quiet as she turned around, eyes scanning the dark, pulse racing. She felt like a little kid sneaking out to go to a concert. But after a few seconds of looking around and seeing no one, she relaxed.

"You're jumpy." Emile stated matter-of-factly.

"I thought I heard a noise. You can't be too careful." Six shot back.

"Just don't go all paranoid on me like Jun does, I can only stand one of him." He said dangerously. "Come on, lets get out of here."

Emile reached out to open the door, but suddenly...

_Thud thud thud thud _

He paused. "The hell?"

_Thud thud thud thud_

"Sounds like footsteps." Six turned around, shining her flashlight everywhere."...Big footsteps..." She gulped. The noise kept getting louder, when suddenly, from out of the darkness came a huge figure, hurtling straight towards Six and Emile.

'AaaaaaaaaaaH!" The two spartans screamed and cowered against the wall. Six frantically shone the flashlight at the figure, sighing in relief at who it was.

"Oh, Jorge. Its just you." She said, then looked at Emile, who was still screaming. "Emile."

"AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaH!"

"Emile!"

"What?"

" Why are you still screaming?"

"Just look at what he's wearing!" A horrified Emile pointed at Jorge's pajama's, which were pink footies with bunny rabbits on them. Six's jaw dropped, she couldn't help but stare.

"What? They were a gift from Dr. Halsey." Jorge tugged at his pajama's, embarrassed. "Besides, what are the two of you doing sneaking around?"

"It doesn't concern you." Emile snapped, heading towards the door.

" Oh, alright, I'll just go wake up the Commander, then." Jorge threatened.

"We're going to get a Christmas tree!" Six blurted out, making Jorge pause, his face brightening up.

"Why didn't you say so, mate? Can I come?"

"Absolutely NOT! " Emile huffed. "This is MY adventure. So go back to bed!"

" Why can't I come with you but Six can?"

" That's different!"

"How?"

Emile was silent as he pondered the question, then gave an angry shrug. "Fine, you can come. We need someone to carry the tree, anyway..."

"YAY!" Jorge shouted happily and tore off his pajama's to reveal his winter gear, snow boots included.

" Keep it down, we don't want to wake up anyone else." Six shushed him.

"Yeah, like Jun." Emile snickered.

"Shhhhhh!"

The Trio opened the door and tramped out into the cold winter night. The sky was clear, revealing the stars high above them. The snow seemed to glow eerily as they trekked around the base and into the woods behind it.

Silence reigned amongst the trees, nothing stirred. Six looked around her, drinking in the peace and quiet. This was far different from her normal life, which was filled with gunfire, blood, and explosions. A smile twitched on her lips as walked.

"Don't let the peacefulness of these woods fool you." Jorge spoke from behind her. " They hide the most dangerous wildlife on the planet!"

" Orly?" Emil scoffed. "I think you have been reading too much Wikipedia of the Future, again!"

Jorge grew all sulky, so Six gave him a sympathetic pat on the back as they walked on. Suddenly Emile crouched down and rased his fist, bring his companions to a half.

"What is it?" Six whispered.

"Something's following us." Emile whispered back

" Dangerous wildlife!"

"Shutup, Jorge!"

The bushed behind them rustled, making them all spin around. Six got into a fighting position, fists raised as twigs snapped and whatever was following them came closer.

"It could be a were-bear!" Jorge said nervously.

"You think so?" Emile didn't sound so sure now, since whatever was coming sounded really big...

SMACK! A figure fell out of the bushes and started writhing in the snow.

"GAH! Nature! Get it off me!" whoever it was took a sanitizer can from his pants and began to spray it around him frantically.

Emile facepalmed. "Jun, what the hell, man?"

"So, you were following us?" Six went over and helped the sniveling spartan up.

"Yeah," said Jun, "I wanna come, too!"

"NO." Emile said matter-of-factly.

"Why?"

"Because I said so!"

"Aw, come on!" Jun turned to Six. "Help me out here, I saved your life in the prelude, yah know!" He pouted.

"But then you sprayed me with your smelly disinfectant, and I do have to admit, your Russian accent does kinda get on my nerves..." Six rubbed the back of her neck apologetically.

"Russian? I thought he was Asian!" Jorge spoke up.

"I thought he was Mexican..." Emile shrugged.

Jun: " ..."

"What?"

"Nevermind...anywho...aw, pweeease! I really want to come, it will mean so much to me, and I promise I won't be loud or anything!" Jun put on his best puppy dog eyes.

"Okay, you can come, just shut up!" Emile growled.

"Cool!" Jun and Jorge high-fived each other as they continued exploring. The forest was now filled with excited chatter as they marched deeper into the trees.

"Check it out, I think we are beginning to do some team bonding!" Jorge said proudly.

"This is bonding time? Aw, I should of brought snacks, maybe a movie..."

"What type of movie, Jun?"

" hmmmm, well, I always liked Twilight..."

Jorge, Six, and Emile stopped and stared at him incredulously.

"Whut?"

"Jun, come closer so I can snap your neck!" Emile hissed angrily

"Uh-oh!" Jun gave a girly scream and took off running as Emile charged after him.

"IS he really gonna kill him?" Six asked, unsure.

" Well...Do you know how Thom died?" replied Jorge.

" No..."

" Well, lets just say I think we need to rescue Jun." Jorge broke into a sprint, Six not too far behind.

They followed the foot prints made by the two spartans into a clearing, where they stopped dead in there tracks, joining and Jun as they stared at the object before them.

"What is it?" Six asked.

"Its...Its...BEAUTIFUL!" Jun squealed.

"No its not! Okay...maybe a little..." Emile muttered.

"Yeah, but what is it?" Six demanded.

"Its pretty!" Jorge smiled.

Emile struck a manly pose and pointed to the object. "IT IS THE PERFECT CHRISTMAS TREE!"

The epic conclusion to this Christmas tree hunt will be in the next chapter!


	5. Chapter 4: Hunt for a tree final

The four spartans gazed at the tree rooted in the clearing. A tad bit shorter than Jorge, its perfect green branches covered in a thin layer of sparkling snow. It seemed to glow in that moonlit clearing, making whole scene seem almost...magical. At that moment, Emile knew that this was the tree they were looking for.

"We found it, that's our Christmas tree," His voice broke the awed silence, " we'll cut it down, being it back. Everyone will be all drunk and happy, including Carter. Next thing you know I can have my room back!"

"One thing I don't get," Six called out to him as he strode towards the tree," is how your going to cut it down without an ax or any other sharp weapon. "

" Oh, I have something better then an ax." Emile lifted a hand and unzipped his dark green jacket, pulling out his kukri .

" Not to sound stupid, but that's not the best tool to cut down a tree." Jorge pointed out.

Emile ignored him, reaching up he grabbed a string on the hilt and pulled, causing his kukri to whirr and vibrate. "There, mini-chainsaw!" He bragged.

"Um..." Jorge just looked at him.

Emile approached the tree, holding up his chainsaw Kukri, when suddenly the snow amongst the roots shifted and a bunny hopped out right in front of the spartan.

"Awwwwww! It's a bunny!" Jorge, Six, and Jun cooed.

"Yeah, so? " Emile moved closer to the trunk of the tree.

"Wait!" Jorge yelled, "You can't do that!"

"Why not?"

"You saw where that bunny came out, that's its home. If we cut down this tree, that poor little bunny won't have anywhere to have shelter!"

"Really?" Emile looked down at the small bunny, with its cuddly brown fur and large black eyes, it seemed to stare imploringly at the imposing chain saw- wielding spartan, its cute little nose quivering. It made Emile pause for a second, as he and the bunny stared at each other, they seemed to reach an understanding...

"Oh well." Emile brought up a steel toed boot and kicked the bunny. With a squeak the animal soared over the trees and off into the night sky.

Jun, Six and Jorge stared, there jaws almost touching the snow around their feet. The shock over, Jorge immediately started crying.

"There, there, big guy." Six placed a hand on his arm, trying to comfort him, and was immediately pulled into a big bear hug as the large spartan sniffled and sobbed.

" Are you happy now? You just made Jorge cry!" Jun put his hands on his hips and glared at Emile.

" Don't give me any trouble, Badly, or after I'm done cutting down this tree I'll use this chainsaw kukri on YOU!"

"Um..okay...I won't bother you..then." Jun squeaked and went to hide behind Jorge and Six.

The forest was filled with the sound of t Emile's weapon as it was driven into the trunk of the tree. He worked fast, wielding his tool like a true master. Six watched him, realizing this was probably how he dealt with his enemies. It made her glad to be on his side.

A few minutes later, the tree cracked and toppled over, landing in the soft snow. Emile brushed off his hands. "Lets get this thing back to base!" He commanded.

'Who made you leader?" Six said, walking up to him.

"Its MY adventure, so Im the leader!" Emile whined.

"Fine, have it your way." Six backed off and knelt down to grab the tree.

"I still don't like what you did to that bunny..." Jorge grumbled as he went to help Six.

"I don't give a crap about what you think." Emile huffed.

"But Bunnies on Reach are far different from the ones on earth, who knows, it could of told its friends about what you did..." He warned.

Emile let out a gruff laugh. "Oh no, I kicked Thumper and now Bambi is going to come and beat me up! Oh, Im soooo scared, hahaha!"

No one else was laughing. Emile looked at Six, puzzled to see her looking off into the distance, eyes wide.

"No one move..." Jorge whispered as Jun gave a quiet squeak of terror and moved closer to his friends.

'What are you guys looking at?' Emile turned around, and almost crapped his pants.

The four were surrounded on all sides by wood land creatures. Deer, owls, wolves, rabbits, you name it, they were all there, and looking pissed.

" I told you..." Jorge said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Ha! What are you afraid of? They're just a bunch of dumb animals!" Emile continued to laugh until a familiar furry creature hopped out from between the legs of a bear, it's side bruised where Emile had kicked it. The bunny pointed to the spartans with a furry paw.

" Devour their souls!" It hissed in a deep and scratchy voice. At its command the animals charged, red eyed and rabid.

" Oooooh maaaaaaaaah gaaaaaaaaaaaaawd!" Jun squealed and took off at a dead sprint along with Six, Emile, and Jorge, who had the tree slung over his shoulder.

Low hanging branches scraped past Six's face, but she kept running, the blood curling cries of Reach's wildlife coming up behind her. Beside her Jun was sobbing like a school girl, his arms flailing like noodles in the wind. She could hear the animals coming closer by the second, they needed a place to hide.

"Up ahead." Jorge skidded to a halt and pointed with his free hand to a small crack in a pile of boulders, "I bet we could squeeze in there!"

" I don't know, I haven't been watching my weight recently..." Jun looked down at himself.

"Just come on!" Six grabbed his arm and ran towards the opening, behind them, shapes could be seen charging through the trees.

Emile got to the opening first and slipped through into a medium sized cave. " I think there will be enough roof for all of us, except Jun."

"Knock it off." Jorge growled as he tried to squeeze through. "UH-oh, Im stuck..."

Six frantically tried to push him through while Jun bit his nails. "Hurry up, they're getting closer!" He cried nervously.

Six, using all her strength, finally pushed Jorge through, but by that time the lead wolves had broken through the trees and were streaking like missiles straight towards them. The female spartan took one look at them and jumped into the cave.

"Come on, Jun!" She yelled.

Jun was the last to make it through, but right before he could step safely in his body jerked. He screamed as he began to get pulled back. " GaaaaaH! They got meeeeeeee!"

Six tried to kick the snarling animal jaws that were locked onto Jun's leg and while Jorge hit them with the tree, Emile sprang forwards, grabbing Jun's hand and tried to pull him back.

'I got you, spartan!" Emile said.

" But I thought you didn't like me!" Jun whined, snot pouring like a green waterfall from his nose.

"Well...spartans take care of their own...I guess..." Emile said gruffly.

" Never let me go!" jun sniffled.

"Don't worry, that will never happe- ooo look, a doughnut!" Emile looked down to see the most delicious looking doughnut sitting at his feet, without think he reached down to get it, letting go of Jun, who screamed like a stuck pig as he was dragged outside the cave.

There was no helping it. The only thing Jorge could do was barricade the entrance with their Christmas tree as they listened to the sniper's pain filled screeched coming from the other side.

" Poor Jun...' The large man sniffled and hung his head. Six glared at Emile.

'What?" He asked between bites of his doughnut.

"How are you eating that thing when you have your helmet on?" She asked.

' I...actually, I don't really know..." Emile said thoughtfully, then shrugged and took another bite.

" Um...aren't we going to go rescue him?"

"Why would we do that, Six? Jun made a noble sacrifice so we could get this perfect tree!"

" He's still alive. And didn't you say we take care of our own?" she raised a blonde eye brow at him.

The spartan was silent, listening to Jun's screaming.

"OW OW OW! NO, not my leg, I need that! Owie, do you ever brush your teeth? How uncle-OW! AAAAAAAAH! MY EYES! Now I need to sanitize them! GaaaAH NATURE!"

Jorge faced his two comrades, fire in his eyes. "I can't believe you two, standing around while a fellow spartan is in trouble."

'Um...I wasn't objecting to saving Jun..."

"Shut up, Six, I'm trying to make a speech! Anywho, how kind of soldiers are we, who hide at the thought of supporting one another? Yeah, our enemy may be vicious, bloodthirsty, cute critters, but we are spartans, and what do spartans never do? SPARTANS NEVER DIE!" He roared.

'YEAH!" Six and Emile cheered, pumped up.

"Now lets get out there and kick some ass!" Jorge yelled and removed the Christmas tree. The three spartans charged out, yelling blood curdling war cries.

Several hours later...

Six couldn't help but sigh with relief as the base came into view, it made her limp a little faster. No one had gotten out without at least broken limb or internal injury. Six was bleeding from various wounds, and there was a nasty gash in her leg given to her by a mean-looking shrew. Emile's coat was torn, and his left arm was hanging limp at his side from his fight with a bear. Jorge fared the best, with only a few scratches, but poor Jun, he had to be carried over the large spartan's shoulder as they reached their home.

"That was some night..." Six muttered, almost falling over from exhaustion.

"Yeah, Disney lied. Forest animals aren't cute and cuddly at all!" Jun said weakly.

"But hey," Emile said cheerily, "It may of taken us all night to fight out of those woods, but we got the perfect Christmas tree, so now Carter will be happy and give me my room back!"

The sun was just sneaking up over the horizon when they entered the base, tip-toeing to the rec room where they were going to put the Christmas tree. But to their surprise, when they rounded the corner, there already was one in the corner!

'THE HELL?" Emile shouted.

'Oh, up early?" A figure got up from a couch. It was Carter, holding a mug of steaming coffee.

"W-w-w-w-what's that?" Jorge stammered, pointing at the tree.

"Oh, that? Well, I realized I was in a bad mood last night, that I took out on you, Jorge. Im sorry, it was very childish of me. So, to make it up to you I went out last night and bought us a tree!" He smiled.

",,,and what about you and Kat?" Six asked numbly.

"Well...we made up last night, too. If you know what I mean...hehehehe..." He winked pervertedly.

The four spartans just stared at the tree, their jaws slack.

"So...we didn't have to get a tree, after all?" Emile asked, dazed.

"I was molested by animals for nothing?" Jun began to cry softly.

"Um...I guess so..." Carter answered, confused. He looked them over, nothing their beaten up appearance and the tree slung over Jorge's shoulder. " What happened to you guys, anyway?"

They just stared at them, their eyes dull, not being able to believe what they were hearing.

"Well..." Six finally said. " I guess that horrible adventure was completely worthless...Im gonna go back to bed." She turned and staggered off down the hall. The three other spartans mumbled sleepily in agreement and shambled after her.

'Wait, you can't go to sleep!" Carter called after them, "We're going Christmas shopping this morning!"

The agonizing sound of four spartans sobbing could be heard through the base on that fine winter morning.

TOBECONTINUED!


	6. Chapter 5: WOOOO! Shopping trip!

**Well, here it is, the next chapter. Yeah. I know its not Christmas,** **so deal with it! Lol But someone has convinced me to finish this up, so enjoy! **

It had snowed overnight, leaving the city of New Alexandria covered in a thick white blanket, but that didn't deter the thousands of shoppers crowding the streets, looking for just the right Christmas prezzie.

Noble Team stood smack dab in the middle of the city, gazing in awe around them at the towering buildings, and hundreds of shops. Despite themselves, they could feel the christmas spirit creeping into their bones, filling them with excitement. Except for Emile, who was still peeved about the tree incident, and just wanted to go back to the base and blow something up. He grumbled underneath his helmet as Carter addressed the team.

"Alright, men. And Ladies." He said as he began to hand out money. " The mission is to buy a suitable gift for your team mates. And don't come back here until you do! Remember, we only got a few hours till the pelican comes back for us, so you better have your game faces on. Move out!" He yelled, and they all scattered.

Kat spotted a cute looking clothing shop from across the street. She locked onto it like a hawk locks onto a field mouse. She grabbed Jun's arm. "Come on, Jun, I'm going to need someone to carry my bags!"

"Wait, I thought we were supposed to shop for other people!" Jun protested as he was dragged away. Soon, Cater and Jorge paired up and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Emile and Six to stare at each other.

Six looked at Emile. Emile looked at Six.

"So..." Six began.

'If you're thinking about dragging me into one of those fruity panzy stores, I'll kill you where you stand!" Emile snarled.

The female spartan held up her hands, trying to assure him of no such thing. "Um, no. I was kinda thinking about maybe checking out that Gun Depot store over there...We could pick up a few gauss cannons and use them as Jorge's stocking stuffer. "

Emile eyed the building. " Fine." He muttered and started walking. Six sighed. Why did she have to get stuck with the most unstable member of the team?

_**At Sarge's Shotgun Central...**_

_**BOOM! **_The cardboard target was blown to smitheroons, splinters flew everywhere. Six reloaded and laid the shotgun jauntily across her shoulder. "Boom. Headshot." She smirked happily.

"You like?" Said the sales clerk next to her. "It's the latest model in the Raiku line. Twice the firepower, yet with twice less kick back!"

"Hmm, I like it. I'll be willing to buy, if your willing to haggle!" Came the reply, and the bidding was on.

Emile watched from the corner, the scene replaying in his mind. Six pulling the trigger. The target exploding. Six's blonde hair swirling around her head as debris flew by. The shotgun clasped firmly in her hands. For some reason he couldn't stop thinking about it. The way she looked with that shotgun over her shoulder.

One word: HAWT!

"Fine, I'll take it." Six said and paid for the gun. She turned to Emile. "There, I bought you your shotgun. You sure you didn't want it to be a surprise?"

Emile's fingers twitched as he looked at her.

"Uhh...Emile?"

"Lets find some more heavy artillery to shoot." Emile said gleefully and dragged a confused Six away.

_**In Doughnut's Department Store...**_

Jorge looked around him at all the stores inside the mall. At the parents taking their kids to see the window decorations and all the new toys. The happy smiles on their faces. It made him wish he had a normal childhood. He never knew his parents, so he would never know those happy feelings of Christmas ti-

"Jorge, snap out of it!" Carter said irritably, bringing the large man out of his day dream.

"Oh, sorry, sir." He mumbled.

'That's okay, now, I need your help picking out a present for Kat." He held up two pairs of lacy lingerie. "Do you think she'd like red, or black?"

Jorge averted his eyes, blushing furiously. "Sir, I don't think you should be touching those!" He stuttered.

" These won't be the only things I will be touching, come tonight!...eheheheh!" The Commander grinned pervertedly.

"Sir!" He protested.

'Fine. I'll just buy both." He paid for them, and they exited Doughnut's department store, carrying their packaged gifts.

'Well, that should cover just about everyone. Lacy things for Kat, hand sanitizer for Jun, a chainsaw for Emile, and, well...I don't know what Six likes so I bought her a shaving kit. Oh, and that gift I bought for you, Jorge, but Im not going to tell you what it is!...Jorge?" Carter looked at his friend, who was looking around, a weird expression on his face.

"Uh...Commander, this isn't the way we came in..."

'Are you sure?"

"Looks like a whole different part of the city..."

"So?" Carter started walking, 'finding out way part shouldn't be too hard..."

five minutes later...

"CRAP! We're lost!"

_**At Simmon's Electronics...**_

Jun eyed the hacking software. Making sure Kat wasn't looking, he bought it and shoved it into his bag. There, that was one person down... He looked at the store clock. Dang, they had only two hours left. He better have to hurry to buy everyone else a present!

He walked out of the store and looked around. He needed to get Six and present, she was next on the list. But she was new. He didn't know what she would like...especially since she was...a girl. And full of nasty little diseases. He walked up to a holographic map and eyed it.

"Hmmm," He picked out a store, and headed to it. There was sure to be something for Six there.

_**In Cabooses's Specialty Needs Shop...**_

"Six, do we HAVE to go in here?" Emile whined. "This place makes me feel...special."

" I'm shopping for Jun. This shop has a lot of safe, sanitized stuff, so I think he would like it if I bought him something from here. You can wait outside if you want..."

Emile turned and huffed out the door, knocking down a few shoppers along the way. He began to pace on the street, cussing underneath his breath about how stupid this trip was. Suddenly there was a tap on his leg. Looking down he spotted a curly haired girl in a pink coat, gazing up at him with big brown eyes.

"What the hell do you want, kid?" He growled, hoping the skull on his helmet would be enough to scare the brat away.

" Wow mista..." There was only admiration in her eyes. "Is dat your weal face?"

"Yeah. Now go away before I eat your soul!"

" Wow...you a spawtan? "

"Yeah. Now get lost."

"Cool!" She latched into his leg. Emile tried to shake her off, but she held fast.

"Hey!" She let go of him. "You hold onto mista spawkles!I get mah mamma! " She handed him her stuffed pink unicorn and skipped away.

Emile wanted to set the thing on fire. It was hideous! With its big plastic eyes and rainbow maine...and sparkly horn...come to think of it...it WAS really soft...the more he held it...the more it seemed to grow on him...

Jun was on his way to the Specialty Needs shop, he rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks, his mouth agape, starring at Emile, the unicorn toy in his hands.

"Emile...are...you...petting a stuffed unicorn...?" He gasped, flabbergasted.

Emile dropped the thing immediately. "Ummm...its not what it looks like-"

"BWUAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!" Jun cried as he rolled around on the ground, laughing hysterically. That didn't go too well with Emile, who advanced on his slowly, balling up his fists.

"Hahaha...oh...wait...please, I won't hahaha tell!" Jun pleaded through his laughter.

In response Emile drew back his fist.

Inside, Six was about done paying for her gifts when suddenly the wall exploded. Jun went flying past her and slammed into the other wall with a SPLAT! Her mouth dropped open with surprise. Along with all the other shoppers she stared at the new hole formed in the wall, Emile standing on the other side of it.

"I think its time we left." Emile said, grabbing Six's arm and pulling her out of the store before the owner could call the cops.

_**Meanwhile...where Jorge and Carter were...**_

It was fast approaching the deadline of when they had to meet back, and Carter and Jorge still didn't know where they were. Now they were tired, hungry, cold, and miserable. Just to name a few of the things they felt.

"Gagh, how did we get lost? Spartans NEVER get lost!' Carter ranted, pulled out his hair in frustration.

"Well, I have an idea! if we had some money, we could hire a cab and get back in no time!"Jorge said happily.

'That plan would work great. If we hadn't already spent all our money!" Carter yelled.

Jorge was sad again.

Suddenly they heard a faint crying sound, they followed it. Rounding a corner they found a small child sitting on a bench, tears running down his cheeks. Immediately Jorge's Mother Senses kicked in. In a flash he was beside the child, holding him.

"There, there, its going to be alright. Are yah lost, little guy?" He spoke kindly to the little boy, who nodded. The spartan turned to his commander. "He's lost, we gotta find his parents!"

Carter didn't reply, he was looking at the boy's pockets, a dark look on his face. "I have a better idea." He said evilly. "Check his pockets. See if he has any money!"

Jorge gasped, appalled at the idea. "But we can't steal! Especially from a child."

"Listen, soldier. We spartans do whatever it takes to survive! We need the money, he won't miss it!"

"No, I cant!"

"Fine, then I will do it!" Carter hissed and went over to the boy, and began searching his pockets.

Suddenly there were foot steps and a lady came walking up. " Oh Henry, there you were, I was looking all over for you-" The boy's mother than spotted Carter, with his hands in the boy's pockets. "PEDOPHILE!" She screamed.

"Oh crap..." Carter said as she began to call the cops. "RUN!"

_**Later...**_

It was now time to go, the pelican had landed in the square, and Noble Team were loading up. Kat watched the streets anxiously, looking for signs of Carter and Jorge.

"Don't worry, they probably got shanked." Emile said, taking his seat in the pelican. Kat gave him a death stare.

Then, two figures emerged in the distance.

'Hey, are those Carter and Jorge?" Jun asked from underneath his bandages, which had been applied to him shortly after Emile punched him through a wall,

"It seems like it..." Six stood up, watching the two get closer. "It is!"

It was Carter and Jorge, and they were running fast. Which wasn't much a surprise, considering all the cops behinds them.

"Tell the pilot to take off!" Carter screamed as the two of them hopped aboard the pelican. Six ran to the cockpit and a few seconds later the ship was lifting off from the ground and gaining altitude over the city. Leaving a swarm of angry cops to shake their fists at them on the ground.

"Phew, that was a close one," Carter breathed, catching his breath.

'What happened to you two? What were all those cops doing chasing you?" Kat pried, her expression serious.

"Carter is a pedophile!" Jorge piped up happily.

"Shutup Jorge!' Carter yelled. And turned to Kat, trying to smile. "It's a long story...but hey, we got you a Christmas present!" he held up the wrapped package.

Kat was not amused. "It's a long way back to base, I'm sure you can tell it." She sat down. Carter gulped. This was going to be a long trip back...

_**Back at the base...**_

The spartans trudged inside, their shoulders sagging from fatigue of shopping. No one was really hungry for dinner, so Carter called lights out.

"Okay Spartans, Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so we have a whole lot of stuff to do to get ready! So gets lots of sleep!"

There was a tap on his shoulder, he turned around to see Six, looking quite serious.

"What can I do for you?' He smiled.

" Can I have my room now, please?" She smiled back, but it was lacking warmth.

'Oh fine..." Carter sighed. "I moved all those pictures where Kat couldn't find them. Follow me." He turned and walked down the hallway, Six followed. Emile, who had heard their conversation, followed too, his fingers twitching as he stared at the back of Six's head. He would get his own room back!...but why didn't he feel as happy as he thought he would...?

The trio reached Thom's old room. "You can move your stuff in here immediately." He said as he took out a key and opened it. "It may need some dusting, but-" he flicked on the lights. Everyone screamed as the figure hunched in the middle of the room, unpacking his bags.

'For an elite team of spartans, I suspected less...terrified screaming...' The man said.

Carter felt like crapping his pants. "H-H-Holland? What are you doing here?"

TOBECONTINED


	7. Chapter 6: Surprise, surprise, surprise

_**Man, this took awhile...Sadly I've been pretty busy for, like, a few months or so. And now I FINALLY have some time to type. Well, I may be a little rusty...so...enjoy! **_

"Holland?" Carter snapped to attention, giving a hasty salute. "Sir, what are you doing here?"

The officer chuckled at the spartan's surprised face. " Routine inspections are still mandatary, Christmas or no Christmas."

"Of course, sir," Carter recovered, "I take it you will be using Thom's old room?"

"That is the plan, yes. I doubt any one of your team will have objections if I do."

Carter could feel the heat of Six's angry glare on the back of his neck. He ignored her for now and saluted Noble Actual. " What's one more mouth to feed? It will be a pleasure having you, sir."

" Ah, yes, slight misconception there. You see, I did not come alone..." He muttered apologetically.

"Wait, who else did you bring?" Emile asked, a slight tinge in his voice. Holland was about to open his mouth to reply when suddenly the door burst open and Jorge thundered into the room, his scarred face filled with panic as he tried to hide behind Carter.

"Sir, you gotta hide me, quick!" The large spartan pleaded as he cowered behind the much smaller one.

" Jorge?" Six asked, concerned about what could make the usually steely spartan behave this way.

"What, did you see a mouse?" Emile scoffed.

"No...' Jorge's eyes were wide with terror. "Much, much, worse..."

"Who-" Carter began, but a familiar feminine voice interuptted him.

"Oh Jooooorge? Where are you?'

The 4 spartans swung their heads around to the doorway, where a woman stood leaning against the frame, her graying hair shining underneath the light. A package firmly tucked underneath her arm.

" Well if it isn't the rest of Noble Team. Jorge, I KNOW your hiding behind Carter.' Dr. Halsey said.

"HALSEY!" Carter and Emile exclaimed as Jorge reluctantly shuffled out of hiding.

"Carter." She purred back, sauntering over. " Surprised to see me? When I got the report I just had to come and see how my spartans celebrated Christmas. And to keep you off of Kat."

Carter chuckled nervously. 'Ah...hahaha...it's a honor having you visit the base..."

"Not." Emile whispered to Six.

By that time Kat and Jun had heard the commotion and entered Thom's room. The Doctor's face stretched into a thin smile as she greeted each spartan personally.

" Nice to see you again, Katherine. You were always a favorite of mine, with your feisty smarts. And big,strong Jorge, I knit you some new pajamas, I hope you like them, I hand stitched kittens into them. And Carter, again. Ever the cheerful leader. Ah Emile, my loveable little psycho." She patted him lovingly on his skull faced helmet. "And here's the new girl, Six. I was the one who selected you to replace Thom. So brave, your destined for great things." Six couldn't helpt but feel a little warm inside from the praise. It made her wonder why all the other spartans were edgy around her. She was the mother of the project that put them into existence. What could be so bad about her?

Dr. Halsey finally got down the line to Jun, who waited expectantly.

Dr. Halsey: Ah, yes. Jun...

Jun: :D

Dr. Halsey: ...you were actually a bit of mistake. Some files and serums got mixed up and well...to avoid political hassle with those "humane" groups we decided it would be best if we just let the covenant kill you off. We even have running bets on how long you'll last. "Lets have fun with the dumb animal before we send him off to the slaughterhouse," as dear Holland puts it.

Jun: D:

"Oh..." Six thought as she looked at Jun's stricken face.

The aging woman laughed. "Well, its good to see the rest of you. Now, who wants to go outside for a snowball fight?"

"YAY!" Everyone cheered and charged outside, leaving Jun alone in the now quiet room. His shoulder shook as he tried to hold back the tears. As the door shut behind him he took out a pistol and pressed it up against his head.

OUTSIDE

It was WAR! Already sides were drawn, with Six, Emile, and Holland on one side and Carter, Jorge and Halsey on the other. Kat thought activities of this sort were childish and decided to sit on the sidelines, working algorithms on her data pad. Meanwhile, snow forts were hastily excavated and snowballs quickly packed together for the big fight.

Six was on her knees in the snow, clumsily putting together a snow ball. " I had never had a snowball fight before...what are we supposed to do?"

"Kill everyone in your way!" Emile snarled next to her as he worked on their cover.

" But I thought this was supposed to be a light a friendly game amongst friends..."

" Yeah, for PANZIES! The snow is going to be stained with blood when IM through with them!"

For the umpteenth time since meeting Emile, she was really, really glad they were on the same side. Six decided to take a break from snowball making (which didn't seem to be going well) and check out the competition. Peeking over the wall of the snow fort she spied Carter giving one of his pep talks while the Doctor fussed with an uncomfortable looking Jorge. She could hear the conversation.

"Aw, come one, put on the scarf. Its cold outside."

"That's alright ma'am. Im a spartan. No cold is going to phase me."

" Put. It. On." She hissed.

"Al-alright...' Jorge submitted reluctantly.

"Jorge seems...uncomfortable..around the doctor." Six mused.

"Who isn't? She's bat crap insane!' Emile answered.

"It wasn't always like that," Holland put in. The tone in his voice gave a sense of foreboding that caused a chill to crawl up Six's spine.

"Jorge just thought the good doctor was just being motherly. Most people did. " He continued. "That is, until he discovered her secret."

" What is she hiding?" Six whispered as she and Emile leaned in closer to Noble Actual.

"Are you sure you want to know? The burden is quite hard to bear, even for one of my own calabur." Holland answered, his voice low and heavy with the knowledge he bore.

" Tell us. Now." Emile hissed.

"She's a cougar."

The two spartans sat slack jawed in the snow, staring at the aging man.

"Oh god..." Six choked while Emile twitched uncontrollably.

'That's not the worst part, she's actually a-GAH!" Holland fell back as a rather large snowball impacted with his face, knocking him out cold.

"Good throw, spartan!" Carter's voice could be heard. Immediately Emile snapped into action, gathering up snowballs. "Hollands out, but no one needs him anyway. Cover me, Six."

" Charging out there is a suicide mission!" She warned.

" Not with you to get my back." Emile answered...almost...friendly? Six did a double take and opened her mouth to say something but he was already gone.

Carter smirked as Emile charged out of his snow fort. Just what he expected. "Jorge, you have the honor."

" Thank you, sir!" Jorge said and hefted his huge gatling gun, which Kat had augmented to fire snowballs, and unleashed cold hell onto Emile.

"Aw, snap!" Emile yelled as he saw the team's secret weapon being fired at him. Time seemed to slow down as he watched the flurry of snowballs heading straight towards his face. This was gonna hurt...

INSIDE

Jun dropped the pistol. He couldn't do it. He just couldn't do it! Who would clean his sniper rifle if he was dead, or clean up the toilet after Emile? Giving up, he sighed. Might as well go out and watch the snowball fight.

OUTSIDE

Jun opened the door and walked out of the base to see Emile charging at Carter, Halsey, and Jorge. He was going to get massacred. This put a smile to the sniper's face. It would be fun to see Emile getting beat up for once. Sadly, as he was thinking this he wasn't watching where he was going and slipped on some ice, which sent him flying past Kat and into the fray.

Emile saw the body of Jun come slipping towards him. Without hesitation he grabbed him as he went past and pulled him in front of his body, using him as a meat shield. Jun cried out as the snowballs hit his unarmored body, but Emile just kept pushing him towards the enemy snowfort.

Halsey narrowed her eyes. " Your plan is failing, Commander." She snipped.

" I know, I know. Keep firing at him, Jorge!"

"I can't, Im out of ammo!" Jorge wailed, clicking the trigger to prover his point. Emile took this moment to lift Jun up and chuck him into Jorge, sending them both down. Giving a bloodcurdling war cry he leaped over a snow drift and onto Carter, shoving his face into the snow.

" Payback's a b****!" he crowed as he sat on his Commander and pelted him with snowballs.

The Doctor held up her hands. " Okay, you got us. I guess we surrender. Is that alright with you, Carter?" Her only reply was muffled grunts as Emile continued his victory assault. "I'll take that as a yes."

Six came running over, along with the now conscious Holland. She clapped Emile on the back. "I think you can stop now."

Emile stood up. "We kicked ass!" He punched Six's shoulder, sending her stumbling back. Her foot hit something and she fell backwards into the snow, landing with a soft crunch. Her ponytail came out, sending her messy blonde locks swirling around her head, like a golden halo. Brushing them swiftly out of her eyes she looked up to see Emile staring silently down at her.

'Um...Emile, your fingers are twitching again."

Emile just grunted and helped her stand up. As she turned to brush herself off she knew that underneath the carved skull on his visor, he was still staring.

"You must be the clumsiest spartan I ever seen." Kat teased as she trudged over to them.

" Not my fault. My foot caught on something." She looked down at the snow, wondering what she tripped over. There was a flicker of gray where she had moved the snow. That's weird. Bending down, she brushed a little more snow off. More grey. The surface was hard, with marks running down it. More weird.

The others crowded around her as she began brushing off more snow. More grey. Weird, weird, weird.

'What is it?" Jorge asked.

' I don't know, it looks like...it can't be...' Carter whispered.

" It looks like spartan armor..." Kat said darkly.

"But what's it doing buried in the snow three feet away from the front door...?" Jun wondered. Everyone paused. Their minds registering the information. Immediately they bent down and began helping Six in the uncovering. A minute late the work was down. Noble Team, along with Holland and Halsey gazed down at the find. Their voices mute. The air filled with horrified tension. Jun broke it by letting out a terrified scream and running away.

"Who...who is it..." Six stared down at the body lying in the snow.

"Oh my god...It...it can't be..." Carter's voice cracked.

"Who is it?" Six asked more forcefully.

"Its Thom."

_**Confused? So am I! TOBECONTINUED! **_


	8. Chapter 7: The return

**_Well, its been a long, long, long, long, long, time...and its not Christmas anymore...but with summer comes a whole lot more writing time. I hope this next chapter is a good one, I don't think its the best...but please review and feed my already large ego! Here yah go! _**

"Sir, permission to speak?" Six yelled above the excited chattering, her voice causing them all to pause and look at her.

" Permission granted, Six." Carter replied.

"What the hell is going on here?" She pointed to Thom's body at her feet, her face a mixture of confusion and exasperation about what was happening.

"I think Noble Six is saying what we're all thinking." Holland said pointedly, glaring at Carter while a curious Dr. Halsey knelt to examine the body.

"You don't see what's happening?" Jun piped up, his face pale. "Thom's finally come back for his ghostly revenge! "

" Oh, really, Jun?' Halsey tsk'ed. " Spartans should know better to believe in what science has disproved. Like ghosts. There is a perfectly reasonable and scientific explanation for this, and given time I'm quite sure I will find it." Her hands ran over the cold armor, her brow furrowing as she found no real damage of the fatal kind. "I thought the report said Thom died blowing up a Covenant cruiser, and that his body was not recovered, no doubt to the fact that it most likely disintegrated in the explosion." Her grey eyes seared into Carter, who tried his best not to fidget. He looked beseeching at Kat, who only crossed her arms.

"Im not the one who filed the report, Commander." She spoke innocently, while the rest of the team tried to make themselves scarce. It looked like Carter was on his own for this one.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. "I must confess, Sir and Ma'am, that I might of exaggerated the report."

"You know that's a serious military offense son, but I'll forget it if YOU JUST TELL ME HOW HE DIED!" Holland lost his patience.

'Give me a moment and I'll tell you," Carter retorted, his voice low and ominous. Holland, the doctor, and Six couldn't help but lean in close to listen.

"Despite the report being false, the date is correct, Thom did die that fateful day..."

COMMENCE FLASHBACK!

_It was a bright and sunny day on Reach, and Noble Team had just completed some of their normal routine scouting missions, nothing really important, just to keep the troops sharp, as Carter put it. Heading back to HQ in a pelican, Noble 2 decided to give the commander a hint that they had time for some good ol' R&R, and, as she lightly but forcefully put it, he should treat the team to something special. _

"_To Moa Burger!" Carter commanded the pilot, and the pelican veered off in the direction of one of Reach's most shifty fast food establishments. _

_Once inside, the spartans immediately huddled together, deciding what to order. _

"_I wonder if they have anything...vegetarian..." Jun rubbed his shiny bald head thoughtfully. Emile rolled his eyes, but no one saw it since he was still wearing his helmet. _

_Jorge chuckled. "Meat, that's what I'm craving!" He slapped his abs excitedly. _

"_Order whatever, I don't care,' Kat intoned, "Carter's paying." _

_Thom nudged his way to the front and eyed the menu thoughtfully, as if appraising a rare piece of art, brown eyes twinkling. _

"_Well, there's some mighty fine looking grub I wouldn't mind shoveling. I reckon I just can't make up my mind..." He scratched his blonde stubble. _

_Emile suddenly spied something. "How about their new mystery meat!" He said, unable to hide the drool from his voice. _

"_Hmm...don't say much about what's in it..." He looked at it suspiciously, "You think it's worth tryin', Jun?" _

"_What?Are you insane? " He spluttered, " You don't know what's in it! You wonder why they want to keep it a mystery? Could be something vile that they just found off the road, and you're going to eat it! And all that bacteria! Just look at the picture, doesn't even look half dead! I wouldn't trust it, Thom! No smart spartan would!" _

"_You might be right on that one..." He looked at Emile. _

" _Mystery Meat eating contest?" _

"_You're on, boy!" Thom shined his pure white smile and slapped his comrade on the arm as they ran off to order. _

_**5 minutes later...**_

_The exit burst open, and a frantic looking Jun ran out, stumbled, and smashed into the wall. _

"_All clear!' His hysterical voice came back rather muffled. A second later Carter burst out, dragging a grey body, with Jorge, Emile, and Kat following close behind, arguing._

"_What the hell happened?" Jorge yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. _

"_Its your fault Emile, you're the one who told him to eat that mystery meat!' Jun accused. _

'_I didn't know he was going to eat the whole thing!" Emile shot back. _

"_You challenged him to a eating contest, of course he was going to eat the whole thing!" Kat rounded on him. _

"_I didn't know it was going to kill him!" _

'_You should of guessed that when he was rolling around and coughing up blood!" _

"_Enough!" Carter broke though the other voices. "We'll decide who's to blame later, right now, Thom's dead, and you know the UNSC is going to be pissed! Kat, how can we soften the blow?" _

_The female spartan drew in a long breath, her mind working, "Thom's death WAS pretty stupid..." _

"_I need a plan. Now." _

"_Yes, Commander," She answered rather haughtily, "if you wanted to go against every moral fiber in your being, and UNSC regulation, you could fake the report to-" _

"_Good idea. If anyone asks, we were off making an epic video game trailer and it turned out the bomb was real." _

"_Commander-" _

"_We'll work out the nitty gritty later. Now, who's going to help me hide this body in a dumpster?" _

END FLASHBACK!

"I told you so. I knew Thom was gonna come back for his revenge, boss!" Jun exclaimed.

"No, there has to be a way to explain this...' Halsey was muttering, wracking her brain for an obvious scientific answer.

"I doubt it,' Carter said. 'Thom's dead as dead."

"Then how did his body get all the way here?" Six interuptted.

The group was silent as they stared at the corpse that was once Thom. Their minds swirled with so many questions with little to no answers. There was no way the spartans body could show up by itself on their door step...unless...Jun WAS right...

"Is Thom really back for his unholy revenge?" Jorge whispered to Kat, who rolled her eyes and began trudging inside.

"Lets work out this mystery later, besides, if Jun's right, then Emile is the only one who has to worry. He DID get him killed, after all." She say nonchalantly.

"Kat's right!" Carter agreed." Now, who wants turkey and egg nog?"

"I DO! I DO!" They all yelled and stampeded inside, trampling Carter in the process. Six hung back outside with Emile, who was strangely silent.

'What's your opinion on all this?" She pried.

"What do you take me for? Only cowering civies believe in ghosts." He brushed past her and headed in.

As much as Six wanted to celebrate Christmas Eve, her thoughts swirled with the mystery of Thom, and Emile, who, even though he did not want to admit it, seemed a little spooked.

The night went on, and not a word was spoken between them. Six picked at her turkey, silently watching Emile, who was locked onto the egg nog chugging contest going on between Carter and Holland, while in the back ground Halsey chased an embarrassed looking Jorge with a mistle toe. Finally, at eleven, the Commander called a cease to the activities, for it was time for bed.

"We're going to get up nice and early for presents, and I want you to look sharp!' He called down the hallway as everyone retreated, grumbling, to their rooms.

Six got to her room first, and hastily slipped into some boxers and a sports bra before Emile showed up. Turning off the lights, she slipped with a sigh into the bottom bunk, which she insisted she sleep in since Emile kept on pulling her off the top one. She gave a rare smile as she snuggled underneath the warm covers and fell asleep.

It must of been about an hour or so later when she opened her eyes.

"Emile?" She called out into the darkness.

It seemed no one was going to answer, until, finally, "Yeah?"

"Do you always stand over my bunk and watch me sleep?"

"No."

"Then what exactly are you doing?" She sighed irritably, and reached over and slapped the armor on his leg.

"Nothing."

"Fine, then." Not having the energy to deal with any more creepiness, she rolled over and tried to get back to sleep. A few minutes later her eyes snapped open again.

"Six?'

"What?" she groaned.

"Never mind." he went silent again, but Six knew he was still there. She could him as he slowly sharpened his kukri against his armor. The annoying grating noise rang through her ears and into her brain, she tried to put a pillow over her head but the noise persisted. Finally, she had enough.

She sat up, her hand snatching blindly in the dark. Her spartan reflexes were spot on as her hand closed around Emile's knife and yanked it from his grasp.

'The hell?" He spat.

"Its Thom. Isn't it? You're afraid he's going to come for you."

"You're crazy.'

"You're scared. "

"Bull."

"I heard you sharpen your knife. Those are nervous scrapes I heard."

'Well isn't your hearing attuned to the feelings of my knife!" Emile scoffed.

"Listen, there is no such thing as ghosts." Six tried to keep calm.

"Don't you think I know that?" He retorted.

"Then why don't you go to bed?"

"Spartans don't need sleep."

"This one does, and I can't do it with you standing right over me."

"No I'm not."

Six felt like doing some very un-spartanly screaming, but she held in her frustration. "Fine, then get me a glass of water and you can do whatever the heck you want. Just don't keep me up."

She expected Emile to throw back an insult, or threaten to gut her with his kukri, but instead she heard him turn around and stop out of the room.

Six plopped back down, wrapping her arms around her pillow. It wasn't easy being a room mate with a crazy spartan. Once Holland left she was going to have a word with the Commander, and she would not take "no' for an answer.

Suddenly, the chiming of an old clock echoed up the pitch black hallway and through the open door, causing Six to sit up. Twelve chimes, ringing eerily in the quiet. She sat up.

"Strange, I didn't know this base kept antique clocks..." She murmured to herself. A faint memory of the past flickered before her eyes, one that she had thought forgotten. One from the ancient past, filled with warmth and laughter.

She was young, oh so young. She snuggled into the strong arms that held her, curious big eyes staring at the book held before her. A low voice, filled with love and comfort, whispered into her ear a story full of giant ducks and Christmas ghosts...

She shook her head, and the memory reluctantly faded away. She felt strange inside. It wasn't like her to think about her early child hood, before the spartan program. It was too hard to remember, anyway...

The last of the chimes faded away. It was twelve o'clock midnight, and she still couldn't get to sleep. For some reason Thom came to mind, but she quickly pushed his image back down again. "There is no way Im going to get myself spooked like Emile." She muttered with determination, and decided to go back to bed, when all of a sudden the light turned out.

She thought Emile must of returned, but then the realization came that the lights were still off. A faint blue light illuminated the room, casting long shadows. Something wasn't right...where was that light coming from?

Her heart skipped a beat when she realized it was coming from right beside her. With a gasp her head snapped to the side, and she came face to face with a pair of ghostly brown eyes, oggling at her.

"Boy, I reckon Carter did a mighty fine job replacing the most handsome man that ever was on Noble Team!" The ghost of Thom whistled.

Six, not knowing how to react, did the only thing any self-respecting spartan would ever do in this type of situation. She threw back her head and screamed.


	9. Chapter 8: the spooky ghosty

**_Hey, I'm back! :D yeah, I know its not christmas, but a girl has to finish what she started, besides, as this rate, it will probably be done by christmas anyway!...anywho, this chapter I actually had to split in half, the other half(and shall I say the better one) I shall crap out tomorrow, so hopefully you will enjoy this meager offering, and perhaps get atleast one laugh. My horribly inflated ego demands eet!_**

_ She thought Emile must of returned, but then the realization came that the lights were still off. A faint blue light illuminated the room, casting long shadows. Something wasn't right...where was that light coming from?_

_ Her heart skipped a beat when she realized it was coming from right beside her. With a gasp her head snapped to the side, and she came face to face with a pair of ghostly brown eyes, oggling at her._

_ "Boy, I reckon Carter did a mighty fine job replacing the most handsome man that ever was on Noble Team!" The ghost of Thom whistled._

_ Six, not knowing how to react, so she did the only thing any self-respecting spartan would ever do in this type of situation. She threw back her head and screamed._

Within a second the lights flash on and Emile rolled into the room, shotgun blazing in one hand, a glass of water in the other. Screaming louder, she ducked just in time, the wall behind her exploding from the rounds.

"Emile, stand down!" She threw a pillow at him, which bounced uselessly off his armor. He stomped over to her and hauled her up by her blonde (and now slightly singed) hair.

"What the hell is wrong?" He handed her drink over and began to push her towards the door.

She looked around. The ghost of Thom was nowhere in sight. Could she of dreamed it? One thing was for sure, she was not going to let Emile think she was superstitious, plus, she was too mad at him to care about any ghosts.

"Nothing is wrong at all, other than the fact that you almost killed me!" She chugged the water down, "oh, thanks" she handed the empty glass back to him.

"You screamed."

"That doesn't mean you can just roll in here and shoot randomly!"

"You screamed, I think that's as good as any invitation."

She gave an angry sigh, wishing she could claw through his calm exterior and choke him. "You do that again-"

"So, why did you scream?" He interrupted her threat.

"I...' She looked around. How could she tell him? "I had a dream."

"Aw, was it a bad one? Do you want me to tuck you back in and read you a story, cupcake?" He laughed scornfully.

"It had Halsey in it."

" Oh." He sobered up immediately.

An awkward silence ensued as the two spartans stared at each other. The clock quietly ticked as Six played with her now ruined hair while Emile traced the grooves on his shotgun. At length, she finally let out a half-hearted yawn.

"I think I'm going back to bed." She declared, casting an eye at her bunk, which was now littered with shrapnel. Without hesitation she lightly jumped up onto Emile's bunk. She eyed him, daring him to challenge her, but he only turned and stalked out of the room.

"Where are you going?" She called after him.

'Out." He grunted, then the light went off and he was gone.

Sighing, Six plopped her head down onto his pillow. Crying out she immediately sat up again, rubbing the back of her neck. Irritably she grabbed the pillow case and shoot it out over the edge of the bunk. She could hear the clatter of ammo cartridges and perhaps a pistol falling out onto the hard floor. She rolled her eyes. Only Emile would sleep on a pile of live ammunition.

Thinking it was all over, she lay back down. Too bad she forget one certain thing...

"Boy, I thought he'd never leave." The blue glow of ghost Thom was back, making the female spartan groan. So it wasn't a dream after all. Crap.

"Thom?" She bolted up right, her jaw going slack. "But you are officially KIA!"

He sat his ghostly body right next to her, running a transparent hand through his glowing hair. "Yeah, well, ain't that just the bee's knees, right?" he smiled handsomely.

Her terror residing, she stared at him cooly. "...so, I'm guessing you're here to drag Emile's soul down to Hell for getting you killed, correct?"

"Gosh, no! I would never do anything like that, never!...well, on second though..."

"Thom!"

"Just pulling your leg, so pardon me." He laughed.

"Then why are you here?" She pried.

"Well, truth be told, I reckon I might be a little sore with what happened with Emile. So I'm here to do a little haunting! Not anything bad, mind you, just want to get him a little scared, so don't mind me, ma'am!"

Six cocked an eyebrow. "Okay then, have fun haunting, just don't wake anyone else up. " -and with that she dove underneath the covers.

"Just hold on one dang minute!" He exclaimed, throwing up his hands. 'But I need your help! See, I got this whole plan..."

"I'm sure it will work fine without me. Night."

"Well I'll be darned, are you saying you're just going to go back to sleep?"

"I've been involved in too many idiotic schemes this past week to make me think getting involved in this is going to turn out well, especially when it's with a ghost. So, as a matter of fact, yes, I'm going back to sleep. "

"Well, I respect your wishes," He frowned dejected and turned to drift away. So far this haunting was turning out to be a flop, thanks to the female spartan. But suddenly he had an idea.

He grinned slyly. "Alright, It wouldn't of worked anyway, I guess, considering it needed to be exciting, and you're...well...not right for the part. "

Six was sitting up again. "I'm not what?"

"Pardon me, but I did some floatin' around at that big ONI building, and I saw your file. I know why you're such a lone wolf."

"You read my file?" She retorted, now getting a little riled.

"Apparently they restricted you to solo missions only 'cuz of the fact that you failed every social and personality test the board had to offer."

"What are you saying?" She hissed.

"Nothing... "

"Tell me!"

"Truth is, you're boring. Oh, and apparently you kinda ran over your drill sergeant's nephew with a warthog, so I guess that also explains why they kept you so secret."

"He was wearing orange, I thought he was a cone!" She exclaimed, then checked herself. "Er-I mean, I have plenty of personality!"

"Prove it!"

"How?"

"Come help me scare the armored pants offa Emile!"

Six bit her lip, knowing full well what she was getting suckered into, but then again, if there was a chance Thom was going to squeal about her "character issues" Then she wasn't going to be known as the hyper lethal vector anymore, and that would put her behind Jun in the Noble Team food chain. Oh gosh, not Jun!

'Fine. I'm in."

"Sweet, now we need some scissors, glue, and a couple o' bed sheets!"

TOBECONTINUED


	10. Chapter 9: Spooky Ghost 2

1 _The prophet's chair whirled and sparked, sending him flying out of it and onto the corpse-strewn floor. He tried to move his frail and pathetic body, but to no avail. _

_ "Help!" He wheezed to his dead body guards, "I would try to escape but I am too disease ridden since I never washed my hands!" _

_ A green boot was placed on his back, the barrel of a sniper rifle poking into his mushy head. "Too bad for you, they don't have sanitizer in Hell." Jun pulled the trigger, and it was over. _

_ "Oh, Jun!" Kat wrapped her arms around his waist, "The way you shampoo your bald head every morning is soooo sexy, you're way cooler than Emile!" _

_ "Yes, yes I am!" He grinned smugly as a heavenly light shone down on them. Suddenly the dead prophet exploded, sending him flying back. _

_ Groaning, he sat up to see Emile sauntering coyly over to him, hips shaking. Without a word he sat down on his chest and pulled him close. _

_ "Um, Emile?" He asked the spartan, "are you trying to seduce me?" _

_ "Wake up, boy." Came the reply as he lightly patted his cheek. _

_ "-and why does your voice sound so much like Six?" _

_ In response Emile drew back his fist and punched him. _

Jun woke up to Six's hand colliding with his face.

"GAH!" He sat up to find himself laying in bed, with an irritated Six sitting on him with a ghostly cloud hovering over her shoulder.

"Finally, you're awake." She stated. "-and what's this about Emile trying to seduce you?"

"Six, what are you doing here? Does Jorge want another tree?"

"No. I need your help-well-actually, HE does." She slipped off the bed, making way the blue glow. Jun squinted in the dark. What was that thing? It looked almost like...

Then it spoke. 'Howdy, Junny, long time no see!"

Finally, he realized who-or what, it was, so he did the only thing any self respecting spartan would do. He threw back his head and-

"Shush!" Six threw a pillow at his face, stopping him. 'We don't want Emile to find out about this, yet."

"Thom?" Jun squeaked, "are you here to drag Emile's soul down to Hell?" He brightened up immediately.

"Nah, I'm just here for a little night time scaring. Now, I need your help."

"Is it because Six is too boring?"

"Hey!" She scowled.

"Yeah, she's a tad slow, but that's not the point. Ever hear of a certain christmas carol? Turns out we need one more ghost, if yah catch my drift." He waggled his dead eye brows.

Jun thought about it. It would be fun getting some petty revenge on Emile, as long as he wasn't getting too dirty.

"Count me in!" He declared, and they set to work.

Six didn't realized how spooked Emile was until they found him in the mess hall, protected by a barricade of sand bags and a couple of mounted turrets. He was just finishing the last touches and checking all his ammo before he settled in for the night.

He eyed the clock in the corner of his HUD. 12:32, he just had to wait a few more hours, then it would be Christmas morning, and Thom's ghost hadn't even shown up, yet. Hah, he doubted he ever would. He would show Six who was the one being spooked, because it certainly wasn't him! But just in case, a couple of mounted turrets might help keep the ghosts away, if there were any.

Clasping his shotgun, he hunkered down, and began the wait.

From the open doorway the three spartans (including the dead one) spied on their victim. Jun's mouth opened for an evil giggle. "Ooo, I can't wait!"

Six wasn't so confident, " I have a feeling at least one of us is going to get shot..." She eyed the guns.

"Nonsense, this plan is idiot proof." Thom scoffed. "Now, Jun is the Ghost of Christmas past since, you know, he knows Emile, you can be the Ghost of the Present, and I'll be the future, where I rise out of the floor and scare the crap out of Emile, now put on your bed sheets!"

"I get the clean one! You know how many dead skin cells dirty sheets have?"

"Fine." Six handed over the one she had just pulled from the dryer, sighing. "Why am I the one that always gets pulled into these stupid schemes."

"Maybe its to make up for your lack of personality?"

"Jun!" She growled, and he quickly shut up.

"Settle down, boy and gal, we just need to wait for the clock to strike one!" Thom shushed them as they settled down, waiting for their que.

Half an hour later, Emile looked up as the clock chimed. 1:00, hello Christmas morning, and no specters in sight. He would of celebrated if now for the noise that startled him.

He aimed his shotgun at the door as with a ghostly wail a walking bed sheet drifted out. His heart beat rose as he flicked off the safety. This was it, but they weren't gonna take him without a fight!

"Die, haunted bed sheet!"

"Wait!" it suddenly called out in a feminine voice. It sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. "You can't shoot me!"

"Why the hell not?" He aimed towards its spectral head.

"I'm already dead, you idiot!"

"Oh." He said, but still refused to lower his gun. They stared at each other awkwardly.

"May I join you?' the apparition finally asked.

"Are you going to suck out my soul?"

"I promise I won't."

"...okay." He moved aside, allowing the haunted bed sheet to clamber over the sand bags and hunkered down next to him.

He eyed it suspiciously. "So...are you Thom?"

"No, I'm the ghost of Christmas Present."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

It seemed puzzled for a moment. "I really don't know, actually." It finally shrugged. "-but aren't you scared?"

"Do I look scared to you?"

The ghost took one look at the skull on his visor, then sighed. 'Great, what am I supposed to do for a whole hour, now?"

"I know what I'm going to do." He raised his shotgun again.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You, Mr. Ghost, are wasting my time. Either go back to your grave, or I'm gonna find me some target practice."

"Why do you have to be so trigger happy, Emile?-er- I mean, wait, I come with a warning!"

"Go ahead, surprise me. "

'Um..' it stuttered, then motioned to the door. "Just, um, BEWARE THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST!" it roared.

Nothing happened. Emile could hear the bed sheet quietly swearing.

"I said: BEWARE THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST!"

"Wait, I'm not ready!" Came the whispered reply from the doorway.

"Who cares. If you don't come out now, he's going to shoot me!"

"But its not my time-ow!" Another haunted bed sheet was shoved out the door way, he went flying across the mess, stumbling over a chair and falling head first over the barricade, landing on the other ghost in a tangled heap.

"Oops, sorry Six-I mean, miss spooky ghosty!" The new ghost squeaked.

"Whatever, just do your thing!"

Emile tapped the barrel of his gun. "I'm waiting." He growled.

"Umm...' The Ghost of Christmas past trembled for a second. "I'll be right back!" Hopping over the sand bags he left the room, moments later carrying a projector in his ethereal arms and began to set him up.

Clearing his throat, he began to speak in a bad attempt at a ghostly voice, "hello, I mean, oooOOOoooo, I am the ghost of ooOOoooo Christmas Past, oooooooo and I'm here to ooooooo-"

His fellow specter gave him a light smack, "enough with the ooooo-ing, already!"

"Sorry, I'm here to show you what once was, because that's what I'm supposed to do!" The projector set up, he pressed the button, causing the wall to light up.

Emile crossed his arms as the ghost began his presentation.

"Okay, um, tremble at the sight of this photo taken of you last year when we-I mean your team went to the beach! Ooooo look at all the dreadful uv rays damaging your skin, horrible!" _click,_ the photo changed. "Scream at the horror of your first mission, when you arrested that one rebel who was smuggling stolen UNSC stuff. think of all the rebel germs now on those weapons, aaah!" _click. _"And oh, this is a truly terrible one, this one is where you commandeered that wraith and blew up that outpost! Are you scared yet?"

Emile just stared at him as the bed sheet began to get damp from sweat puddles.

"Uh, not to be rude, mister Ghost of Christmas Past, but none of these photos were taken during Christmas, or are the least bit scary." The ghost of Present hinted.

"Hey, these were all the ones I could find with Emile, don't judge me!" He retorted.

"Ugh, I knew this was a bad idea."

"I'm getting bored here...' Emile threatened, causing the ghosts to sweat harder.

"Wait, maybe there's some scary ones on the next slide!" _Click. _

They all gasped as a different type of photo came up on screen. It was of Six, her sleeping face looked almost gentle and relaxed as he lay curled up on her bunk, blonde hair strewn prettily around her.

"GAH!" The female ghost covered her face. "The hell? Who took that?

"I don't know. Carter was using the projector last, maybe he took it."

The ghost finally lost her temper. "Screw this, I'm going to kill him!" She stalked towards the door, but her bed sheet caught. Suddenly it tore off, and Emile realized why her voice was so familiar.

"Six?" Emile exclaimed. "You're not a ghost!" He hissed, and grabbed the other bed sheet. Jun squealed as it was ripped off and Emile began to choke him.

'What's going on, tell me now before I lose my temper!"

"So you're no the least bit scared?" Jun gasped, flailing his arms.

"No."

"Poop."

'Wait, Emile, I can explain!" Six flew to his side.

"I'm not in the explaining mood. You tried to spook me, now Jun's going to pay."

"Emile, listen-" It was no use, Jun squeaked as the spartan drew back his fist for the beating of a life time, but before he could let swing there was a flash of light and Thom was before him.

"Just hold on one fine second!" He raised his hands. Emile was so startled he dropped Jun.

"T-Thom! Are you here to drag my soul down to Hell?"

"Why does everyone think I'm gonna do that?" Thom muttered. "No, but this thing here was my idea, no need to hammer these fine folks for my mistake!"

"So, you're not here for revenge?"

"Naw, just a little scaring, but I guess that didn't turn out the way I hoped.' He shrugged.

"I told you..." Six whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"Hm." Emile was thoughtful for a second. "You know what, Thom, I liked you better as a spartan. You make a pretty crappy ghost."

They all burst out into chuckles as apologies were made and everything was set right. The clock chimed 2' o'clock.

"Well, it was nice seeing y'all again," Thom winked at Six, "but I guess I better mosey back to Spartan Heaven before sun up."

"Yeah, you do that." Emile said the nicest thing he could think of. The female spartan punched his arm.

'I told you there was nothing to be afraid of. Thom is pretty nice." She snickered. Emile was about to say something back, but then a creepy noise filtered down the hall.

"W-w-w-what was that?" Jun hid behind the barricade.

"Shucks, it wasn't me..." Thom looked confused. "Maybe something else is out there... "

Emile got into threat mode, raising his weapon towards the door way as the noise got louder. "Ooooooooo!"

"It can't be another ghost, can it?" Six gasped as out of nowhere a pale while figure emerged in the doorway. Immediately Emile pushed her behind him as he aimed his sights, then paused. "Wait, that looks like-"

"AH! A ghost!" Jun jumped back, accidently knocking into of the turrets, his elbow hitting the trigger. The room was lit up as it went off, bullets flying, the turrets spinning widely.

Emile grabbed Six, using himself to shield her pajama'd body while a frightened Jun wrestled control over the turret. The bullets stopped as they stared horrified at the figure in the room.

"Oooo!" Carter yawned, shattered coffee cup in hand, then glanced down at the blood soaking his white bath robe. "Hey, you guys shot me!"and with that he collapsed to the floor.

The spartan's mouths dropped open.

"Oh no..." Six gasped, her eyes wide.

'Well, I'll be." Thom whistled. "Jun, you just done killed the Commander!"

TOBECONTINUED

**_Okay, heres where reading this thang pays off. Instead of taking the time to think for myself (pfft, which is a total waste of time for me, seriously) I'm gonna let y'all do the hard work for me! Here's the question: "Say you accidentally killed your Commander, how would you get rid of the body?" Message me or post your idea in the comments. Thanks! _**


	11. Chapter 1o: it is always Juns fault

**_(this one is for ShadowedSerenity) _**

Jorge always knew that when you woke up with three of your team mates standing suspiciously over you, something was up. When they were standing over you, AND carrying the dead body of your commander, then something was definitely, definitely wrong.

He sat up and flicked on the light sitting on his bed side table. "Emile, why is Commander Carter dead?"

With a heave, the spartan dropped the corpse onto the bed, immediately staining the sheets. "Long story short, we saw a ghost, then Jun shot our boss."

"What?"

"It was an accident!" Jun exploded, face red with tears, " Oh, how could this of happened? All boss man wanted to do was get a cup of coffee!"

"-but looks like all he got ,"- Emile slipped shades over his helmet-" was a cup of death."

"YEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAH!" Six pummeled the air.

" Six, now is not the time for overused memes! " Now the large spartan was upset. Hopping out of bed, he leaned frantically over his leader's body, eye's wide in horror.

"What? I stubbed my toe!" She defended.

"-and you killed Carter!" He started to burble, shoulders shaking with kept in tears.

"Actually, Jun did. Now we need your help to stash the body before Kat, that cougar doctor, or the old fart finds out about it!" Emile grabbed his shoulder.

"B-b-but you killed Carter!" his bottom lip quivered.

"Yeah, we covered that already, idiot. Now help us cover our asses, because if we're getting court martialed, so are YOU."

"This is wrong. I'm telling Kat!"

Six stepped in, "Listen, big guy, if you tell Kat, do you know what they'll do? They'll take Sadie away. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

The large spartan glanced over his shoulder, where his prized gun lay snuggled underneath the covers, a laced pillow delicately cushioning it's barrel. "Okay, I guess I can help..."

"Thank you, Jorge." She smiled, as Jun sniffed disgustedly at the dead body.

"Ew, I think its beginning to stink. What are we going to do with it, Emile?"

"We could always stash him in the freezer, or find some hungry elites..."

Six knew what they were doing was pretty unethical, but this was taking it a step too far. Being on Noble Team might of trashed whatever spartan morals she had, but she couldn't stand for this. Not when it was Carter. 'Hold on," she held up a slender hand, "we can't just throw away his body."

"Yeah!" Jorge stepped beside her, this made the skull-face spartan a tad irritated.

"Go ahead, explain to me why the hell not."

"Just look at ourselves! We're turning into the very man Jun accidentally killed! Are we really going to do what Carter did to Thom and throw him into a dumpster?"

"There IS one out back..."

"With all due respect, I don't want any more spartan ghosts haunting us on Christmas. Lets give the Commander a proper burial, then sort the rest out in the morning. Agreed?"

The three male spartans exchanged glances, taking in her proposition. At last, they came to a decision.

"Agreed." Jun and Jorge nodded.

"No."

"Emile, we hide the body together or we get arrested together. "

"Fine, lets go find a reasonably clean ditch to throw this body in."

_Later..._

Emile was disappointed to learn that the ditch Six had in mind was actually in fact a full-fledged grave yard, complete with reasonably spooky mist and a gate well in need of oiling.

Her breath white puffs in the dark, Six grunted as she pushed the gate open against the snow. "Okay, Jorge, pick out a nice spot."

The large man giddily skipped off, looking for all the world a little kid at his birthday party, if his birthday party were at a cemetery.

"Yegh, I can't believe we still do this." Jun started up the usual addled complaining. "Burying people in the ground? Think of the sanitation costs if the corroded bodies got into our drinking water! I should really write a complaint..." The spartan never liked dealing with dead bodies, even if they were six feet under the ground. But he brought some wipes, just in case. He wielded the sanitized clothes like weapons as they passed through the grave stones, boots crunching in the sparkling snow.

" Where is the big guy?" Emile huffed, the bed sheet wrapped body of Carter slung over his shoulder. 'All he had to do was find some empty patch of dirt."

"Give him some time..."and they did. Six leaned against a stone angel, staring off into the inky blackness patiently. Some time later, the evil snickering of two certain spartans caused her to turn around.

"Jun, Emile... WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

" Check this out, Six, he's picking his nose!" The spartan laughed evilly as he stuck a dead finger up Carter's nostril.

Jun broke out into high pitched giggles. "That's soooooo gross!...make him eat it!"

"Stop abusing Carter's corspe!" She flew at them angrily, but was interuptted.

"Found it!" came the call, sending them trudging up a hill towards Jorge, who pointed animatedly at a rather ornate grave piece. "Right here!"

"Jorge, someone is already buried there." Six put her hands on her hips.

"Carter deserves something nice and fancy. He was a good Commander." He huffed.

Thoughtfully, the female spartan bent down and brushed the frost away from the stone. "Linux Breakely. " She cocked an eyebrow. "If I recall from reading the files, Emile smashed the face in of a rebel leader called Linux Breakely a few years back, before I was assigned. Sorry, Jorge, I don't think we should dig this person up."

"But why!"

" I know rebels, they don't like it when people mess with their leader's grave."

"Don't be stupid. No one's going to notice if we dig the guy up and put Carter in his place. Start digging, Jun!"

"What? I didn't know we were going to be getting dirty! I would of brought my galoshes!" He protested.

"Don't worry, Jun. I got this." Taking out a shovel Jorge shoveled through the snow, breaking into the frozen soil in no time. They watched lazily as he made six feet deep in no time, striking the surface of the coffin in less than half an hour.

Muscles bulging he ripped open the coffin, revealing the decaying corpse of the ex-rebel leader. Gnarled gums poked through a rotten mouth, locked forever in his last scream. Maggots crawled underneath dripping flesh, the dented face (courtesy of Emile's fist) hosting a variety of mold as the skull poked through in grotesque fashion.

Emile: Sweet!

Jun: *throws up*

Without hesitation Jorge grabbed the body, winding back an arm he flung it into the night. "There, it's gone." He said matter-of-factly.

" Wow,' Six whistled, "good throw, Jorge!" She looked at him with the sparkle of admiration in her eyes, sending a grin to the spartan's face.

Emile never liked Jorge, now he knew why. "Whatever, let's throw Carter in, then beat it." Turning around, he reached for the dead body, but found only thin air. A spike of confusion ran through his brain. Odd, he set it down right there...

"Well, well, well, what 'ave we 'ere, boys?" Five men in armor as dark as the night emerged from the shadows. By the flower's clutched in their hands, they were no doubt rebels come to pay their dead boss some respect.

"Worst. Timing. Ever. Of all time." Six muttered, inching towards the knife tucked safely in her boot.

The lead one, a scar running through his shock of red hair, grinned. "Looks like we found ourselves a couple o' grave robbers."

"And it looks like WE found some new dead bodies." Emile snarled.

"What? To match this one?' He snapped his finger's and a familiar lump of bed sheets was dragged out. "Whoever this guy was, he must be pretty important to you to steal someone else's grave for 'im, huh? Well, our boss was pretty important to us, too, savvy?" His tone grew dangerous.

"Give him back, you jerks!" Jun yelled from the safety of Jorge's shadow.

"Hm, let me think about that. No. A price has to be paid for desecrating boss man's body. And this guy gots a pretty face. He would look nice mounted in me hallway, what do you think, Clyne?" He turned to one of his men.

Emile, Jorge, Jun, and Six: ew!

"You're not taking him without a fight!" Emile cracked his knuckles.

The rebel suddenly had an idea. "We've 'ad lots of fights. Fights are boring. How 'bout a challenge?"

"What about?"

"'ow bout a death race. You win, you get yur precious stiff back. We win, we get 'im. And the girl!"

"I'd like to see you try!" The skull-face spartan grabbed Six.

"No, not that one. The other one!' He pointed to Jun. 'That IS a girl, roight?"

"No. That's Jun." Jorge pointed out.

"Oh...we'll still take 'im."

Jun: O.O

The spartans looked at each other. It seemed any other way was too risky. That meant only one thing.

'We're in!"

TO

BE

CONTINUED!

_**Okay, before I say anything, my conscience and the plagiarism police are forcing me to give credit where it's due. Poop. :P I would just like to point out Flying Kittens Eating Muffins, My Wunderwaffle iz missin, somethingspartan, and Heredity Liar for letting me totally leech off their ideas as to what should happen to Carter, to claim as my own. You might not see them in there, but trust me. They are. So thanks. :D **_ _**And quickie Update, Im planning on releasing the conclusion of this episode late Oct., early November. Then the finale will come out start of Dec. Plus, after updating Frostbite and Company B, I'm thinking of revamping the lousily written noble team fic Chasing Shadows, so if you have any suggestions for that, they are welcome. ;) THANKS! (Plus, my narcissism is on an all time low, I need some critique to vamp it up! Lol) **_


	12. Chapter 11: death race of DEATH!

Emile always wanted to be in a death race. He never knew why, but anything with "death" or "race" in the name had to be good. Put the two together and you got yourself a whole bunch of gory fun.

His skin itched with impatience as they trudged up to the grimy garage. A lone street light flickered feebly on the corner, doing little to battle the mass of shadow cast by the city buildings, towering darkly overhead.

They had come to this shady corner for one reason only. They needed a car. Good thing Emile had always anticipated this moment, for he knew of just the thing they were looking for.

Six didn't even blink as her boot disappeared down a brown snow-sludged pothole. The tugging frown on her face told her companions that she already thought the situation couldn't worse.

"So," Jorge tried to make conversation, "what's this about your source hooking us up with a car?" He asked, surprised the spartan even had anything close to sources.

"Something I've been looking at. An original model from earth that some now dead rebels used. Part military warthog, the other part they raided from a museum. Took forever for the UNSC to confiscate it. Now its ours." he grabbed the edge of the rusted garage door and heaved. Locks snapped and broke as it flung up, metal clattering. The three spartans stepped inside.

Jorge found the switch box-of-the-future and flicked it on, illuminating the vehicle before them. There, shining in the gloomy light, was their race car.

"Oh god..." Six recoiled.

"What museum did they steal this from?" Jorge wanted to pee his pants in sheer disgust.

'I give you..." The unfazed Emile strode confidently over and kicked one of the tires.

"...HITLER'S DEATH CAR!"

Silence. Echoes of the city's night life filtered in through the open door. Pulsing, distant. They stared at the horror the skull-faced spartan had dug up. Finally, someone had to say something.

"Wait. Who's Hilter?" Six asked.

Jorge facepalmed, "Whoever used to own this." He replied. Motioning towards it.

Warthog tires suspended a long coffin shaped body, black as the void. The faded swastikas of the Third Reich plastered across the doors. The roof was gone, showing off the ivory seats in the interior, stained with the blood of someone long forgotten.

"I like it." Emile stated, arms crossed.

Six sighed. The rebels only gave them an hour to find a vehicle. "We'll have to make use of this, then." She walked over, hands sliding across door handle. " I'll drive."

Emile opened his mouth to spring out a lady driver joke, but she rounded on him. "I'm the best pilot Noble Team has."

"Is that why we crash so much?' He snickered. She wasn't so amused. Instead, she slipped into the driver's seat. "Jorge, will you come with me as my co-pilot?"

" To the end of Reach." He smiled gently and slid in next to her. Emile wanted to rip off one of the tires and beat him to death with it.

The spartan jumped over the side, landing in the back seat begrudgingly. 'This ride's slick. How about we just leave?"

His words were met with an icy glare. "-and abandon the last memory of our Commander?" She asked.

"He deserves more than that." Jorge agreed.

_Suck up. _The angry thought passed through Emile's head as they drove out of the garage, heading towards the outskirts. There, their spartan metal (and six's womanly driving skills) would be put to the test.

They met the rebels underneath the skeletal frames of a construction site, sitting alone out in the suburbs.

Men sporting the usual stolen/make shift armor of rebels clustered around the spartan trio and their car, eyeing the competition. Six, Jorge, and Emile faced them readily.

" Not the most tasteful name for a car..." The lead rebel, a burly man decorated with scars that liked to go by the name _Binky_, scratched his manly beard, " Typical of spartans. I like it." He motioned over to where a nervous Jun sat on the curb, trying to stay as far away from Carter's smelly body as possible. "Here the rules. Its simple. You win, you get to keep the stiff and the bald lady. You lose, we kill you and pose your corpses into hilariously perverted poses and set them up in my lawn, kapeesh?"

"Hm, I'd like to see you try." Emile flexed. "You looking for a chance to get yourself killed, you found the right spartan."

"We'll see about that." Binky grinned and slid into his car.

"Jun and Carter's ghosty are depending on us." Jorge encouraged as they slid into their own vehicle. Six grabbed the wheel as the large spartan slid in beside her. Emile irritatedly took the back seat.

"I think Jun can take care of himself." the blonde gripped the wheel, her steely eyes focusing on the road ahead of them.

"So sure about that?" Emile snickered at the sight of Jun trying to put hand santizer on some of the rebels.

The crowd parted, letting something that was supposed to resemble a woman saunter out onto the make-shift track, heels clicking. The woman...man...thing hitched up its hot pants and daintily held up a checkered flag, allowing a full view of the hairy forest emerging from a rugged arm pit.

"No wonder they wanted Jun so bad. He's the closest thing resembling a real woman they have." Six cringed, feeling the body order of the flag bearer sear off her eye brow hair.

"Poor blokes." Jorge tsk'd.

"Ready.' A gnarled voice slid out from between chapped lips. "GO!" The flag dropped, wheels spun, and asphalt burned.

Six hit the pedal, fighting to get ahead of Binky's car. The first stretch of the race was pretty straight, but after they got out of the construction sight it curved around. They would have to make a loop of the sight then come back around, and make sure they were in first place or they were screwed.

"Jorge, keep an eye on that rebel." Six commanded, her voice barely audible above the roar of the Death Car's massive engine. "Emile, see if you can find anything useful underneath those seats!"

Gravel flew out from underneath their tires as they flew past bare metal beams, going neck and neck. Up ahead lay open space, and a sharp turn on the road. The female spartan let her foot loose pressure on the gas, cutting off on some of the speed in preparation for the sharp turn. That's when Binky went into action.

Jorge could see the rebel give a throaty laugh as he pulled out a needler.

"Bloody hell! Where on earth did he get THAT?" He exclaimed as pink death rained into their doors. Six swerved, pulling them away from danger. The tires skidded and lost traction, she fought to keep from sliding out. Binky drove on ahead, quickly gaining distance.

"I thought he said no weapons allowed. Bloody rebel!" Six was getting a little angry now. "Emile, have you found anything?"

"Some empty cartridges and a dead squirrel." He held up the rotting corpse.

"Give it to me." She grabbed the pile of fur and chucked it at the rebel. It flew through his window, splattering onto his face. A very un-manly scream emanated over the sound of the racing cars.

The blonde threw back her head and laughed, and somewhere underneath that helmet Emile might of (almost) grinned a little, too, at the sight of her. This here was some spartan. Maybe she wasn't so bland and boring after all...okay she still was, but who cares. She was HOT.

They raced along the edge of the construction sight, Binky in the lead despite the dead squirrel matter now sticking to his face. Spectators, rebels come to support their gang and a few shifty citizens drawn to the violent fun, lined the sides, cheering.

"Um, I think we're losing." Jorge noted. They only had one more turn to go.

"Then lets change that. Hang on.' They hit the corner. She quickly jerked the wheel and floored it, plowing through the crowd and easily cutting the corner, getting ahead of Binky.

There was a large bump, jarring them from their seats.

"I think we hit someone!" Jorge cried.

"Was it a rebel?' Six spun the wheel straight.

Emile looked behind them at the crumpled, bloody, and slightly flattened body of the civilian lying in their wake. His pain-wracked screams filling night. "Close enough."

Now they were back amongst the half-built buildings, tearing down the road to the finish line. Hilter's Death Car was barely holding the lead. Only a few seconds more and they would be across the line.

"We're going to make it. We're going to win!" Jorge fist-pumped excited. Even Six let out an adrenalin filled grin as she floored it, flames spouting from the engine as it gave one final burst of power.

Jun could also sense their oncoming victory. He jumped up excitedly, waving a sanitation wipe like a miniature flag. "MY HEROES!' He cried out. "Oops!" The wipe flew from his hands, directly into his comrade's path as they drove by.

"My eyes! It burns! " Six cried out as the wipe hit her squarely in the face. Unable to see, she finally lost control, sending them plowing through the crowd (again) and into a pole.

Binky's guttural laugh sailed past them as he drove over the finish line. The winner of the race.

Six groaned and tried to untangle her head from the steering wheel. Jorge looked like he was about to cry. From the back seat a skull-faced spartan emerged.

"We lost to a man...named BINKY." They could hear the venom in his voice. "Damn you JUN!" He roared at the bald spartan, who only whimpered and clutched Carter's body.

Binky skipped over, the she-man-thing clinging to his arm. "Too bad, looks like you wankers lost. Time to get dead."

"You cheated!" Jorge rose to his full height. Many rebels stepped back in fear, but their leader held his ground. Being the winner, he must of thought he was invincible. Too bad he was wrong.

"Oh yeah?' He stuck his nose up in the air, "and wot are you gonna do about it?"

"This." Emile slid out his shotgun and shot him squarely in the face. Brain mattered splatted across Six, a chunk of skull hitting her in the shoulder. A shocked silence ensued.

"Emile!"

'What?" He replied innocently.

She stared at him intently. "Why didn't you shoot him in the face at the grave yard?"

"-but I wanted to be in a death race!" He whined.

"Not to interrupt, but can we go now?" Jorge asked, dragging Jun and their dead Commander into the car.

"Screw this, lets get out of here." Emile jumped in after them as Six took the wheel and hit the reverse. This sent the rebels out of their shock, now they rushed the vehicle.

Despite the damage, Hitler's Death Car was a pretty sturdy vehicle. The hood was majorly dented, but they were still able to pull it off the pull and gun it for freedom.

They sped out of the construction sight, rebel cars hot on their heels.

"We'll lose them in the city." Six pointed to the soaring buildings overhead. The passed the suburbs, taking a newer road. The engine fighting to keep alive.

"Hang in there..." Six whispered, and looked ahead. Apparently the new road wasn't quite finished. A bridge into the city lay before them. Well, only half a bridge.

"Turn back. Can we find another route?" Jorge shouted nervously.

Six and Emile looked at each other.

"We can make it." The blonde pressed the pedal to the floor, watch the mph increase. They broke through the warning sign, splinters lodging into their windshield.

"We are all gonna die like Carter!" Jun sobbed and clutched the dead body, who looked strangly peaceful and at rest amongst the action.

We can make it!"

"Six." Emile spoke, he could see the gaping hole of the ravine below them. It looked pretty far down... "Maybe we shouldn't go this way."

"WE CAN MAKE IT!" The Death Car flew off the unfinished bridge, wheels spinning in mid-air.

Only then did she decide to judge the distance. "Okay, maybe we can't make it."

"Damn you woman drivers!"

_**SMASH! **_The car almost made it. Almost. It plowed into the edge, glass breaking and metal bending. It stuck for a moment, then fell into the darkness, the screaming spartans falling with it.

TO

BE

CON-

TINUED!

_**Whoe, there we go. I must sincerely apologize for the UBER EXTREME LATENESS of this chapter. To make it up there are going to be a heck of a lot more chapters being released. Possibly one on Sunday, if I can find the time. These last few weeks have been very busy. A CRAPLOAD Of tests, which all suck. Yah know. Anywho, thanks for your patience. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. **_

_**NEXT EPISODE: pirated ideas are used, creepiness ensues, famous enemies make an appearance, and PANTIES! **_


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